Health Assessment

Introduction

Breastfeeding is an optimal nutrition for all newborn babies; therefore, the increasing child mortality can be successfully reduced through breastfeeding. While many mothers are aware of the importance of breastfeeding for their infants, some are reluctant and ignorant and refuse to breastfeed them. As a registered nurse, if I find out that a mother is reluctant to breastfeed her baby, first I would want to know why she does not want to breastfeed the newborn. Some do it for religious reasons. Others might be sick, some because they have no breast milk, and some just refuse to do it because of ignorance. Hence, it is vital to know the reason why, and their willingness to want to learn to breastfeed the baby properly. After I learn the reason why then I can find the best approach to the issue, and this would be proper education to the mother about the benefits of breast milk for the newborn.

The best approach to take to ensure that the newborn has adequate nutrition would be through education about breast milk and breastfeeding for the baby. First, I will explain to the mother why breastfeeding is vital for the child. I will make her understand that breast milk contains all nutrients a newborn needs to grow and to fight against bacteria and viruses later in their future life. Moreover, breastfeeding helps reduce the risk of allergies and asthma as well as child mortality (Wambach & Riordan, 2014). However, if the mother is still reluctant to breastfeed her baby after the education, I will give her other options such as bottle-feeding to ensure that the baby gets enough nutrients.

Conclusion

I will take the above approach because as a nurse, I have an obligation to support a mother or even a patient in a decision he/she make. In addition, I am also supposed to provide them with several options concerning the problem at hand without forcing them to do anything they do not want (Robinson, 2016). Being a new mother can be an uphill task for several women, therefore, as nurses, we should provide these new parents with proper education and support them in their decisions to make motherhood fantastic for them.