Philippine Lactation Resource and Training Center

In August 2002, Elvira L. Henares-Esguerra, MD, FPDS, FABM, IBCLC, RPh, a dermatologist and President of Children for Breastfeeding and Nona D. Andaya-Castillo, IBCLC, Director of Nurturers of the Earth, established the first Breastfeeding Clinic in a private hospital and provided classes and counseling services to the hospitals’ indigent patients. In doing so, they realized that despite poverty, many mothers opt to feed their children with non-human milk, unaware of its dangerous consequences to their children’s health and lives.

There were 27 mothers from very poor communities who showed up during the first class and only one was breastfeeding! The following week, that sole mother unnecessarily stopped breastfeeding due to the intake of a medication that her doctor prescribed. Even if they were made aware of the hazards of non-human milk feeding, many mothers resorted to mixed feeding and consequently, full non-human milk feeding due to lack of social support, strong social pressure and massive advertisements that deceive mothers to believe that non-human milk is similar to mother’s milk.

In October 2004, these advocates passed an international accreditation and became two of the only three International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) in the country, a recognized health profession in all European hospitals and in many parts of the world including the USA, Australia and Canada. These IBCLCs intensified their advocacy in partnership with government and non-government organizations that culminated into a series of events stirring national and international attention on the hazards of non-human milk feeding and the state of breastfeeding in the Philippines.

Our institutionalization

To ensure the success of these events, the IBCLCs, held public consultations, gave lectures and speeches that made them realize the need to put up a training center and share their rich knowledge, skills and experience on breastfeeding promotion, protection and support at par with international standards and adapted to the Philippine situation.

The IBCLCs approached TESDA Director-General Secretary Augusto “Boboy” Syjuco who welcomed their idea and said that this project should be implemented urgently throughout the country. He immediately signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the IBCLCs establishing the Philippine Lactation Resource and Training Center (PLRTC) at the TESDA Women’s Center. The initial batches of scholarships were jointly sponsored by UNICEF and TESDA. In 2007, the Department of Health recognized the Philippine Lactation Resource and Training Center as an institutional partner in training and an accredited monitoring entity.

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The National Campaign

The IBCLCs mobilized different sectors and government agencies and initiated the following:

• Senate and Congress hearings on the violations of the laws that protect breastfeeding perpetrated by milk companies (monitored since 1997)
• Participation in 2 National Anti-Poverty Commission hearings and a Presidential Cabinet meeting on Infant and Young Child Feeding policies and its effect on the economy
• Launching of the Department of Health's Implementing Rules and Regulations of the laws that protect breastfeeding in Malacañang with photo exhibits of breastfeeding mothers
• Institutionalization of WBW celebration with Presidential Proclamation No. 1113 mandating government agencies, local government units (LGUs), schools and health facilities to observe international standard of ethics prohibiting milk company sponsorship
• Celebration of World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) in Malacañang from 2005-2009
• Simultaneous Breastfeeding in a Single Site and Multiple Sites within the Philippines
• Synchronized Breastfeeding Worldwide
• Establishment of Breastfeeding Stations in partnership with SM Supermalls serving thousands of mother-child pairs in all its malls throughout the country
• Mobilization of children to perform the Seven Acts of Kindness to Pregnant and Breastfeeding Mothers

Our Direction

When the IBCLCs started this campaign, they never knew that they would accomplish this much. They just held on to their dreams and worked hard despite many obstacles they never thought they would encounter and overcome. In 2007, when official funding from an international organization came to an end, they kept the faith that if God will close a window, He will open a door. Well, He opened many gates providing the IBCLCs’ organizations with additional partners and donors.

With these inroads of opportunities, the PLRTC will continue its advocacy projects with more creativity and more partners. It will continue to conduct trainings to build an army of advocates, Code monitors, trained counselors, many of them breastfeeding mothers, through their online and actual courses in partnership with government and non-government organizations. PLRTC will also endeavor to conduct researches involving the academe, health professionals and social scientists in the very near future.