Dr. Karol Ruiz Valera, President of the National Breastfeeding Commission of Costa Rica
As the President of the National Breastfeeding Commission of Costa Rica, for Dr. Ruiz Valera, participation in the Regional Forum "The Best Start for Life" The Magic Drop , organized with CIFAL York and co-hosted by the Office of the First Lady and Government of El Salvador, highlighted the importance of tracking and recording lactation rooms in Costa Rica, as the country lacked comprehensive data despite existing laws. Following her participation in the forum, the Commission proposed a reform to assign a specific office for evaluating and approving these rooms. This initiative aims to ensure better compliance and support for breastfeeding mothers in workplaces and public areas.
It was an enriching experience because we had the opportunity to share with other governments their progress and challenges, which motivates us to continue working and improving in favour of mothers and children in Costa Rica, it helped us visualise the progress of El Salvador and showed us that we still have a lot to do and implement in the country. - Dr. Karol Ruiz Valera
Among the things that seemed very important to Dr. Ruiz Valera was having the record and count of how many lactation rooms there were in the country since they did not have the record of the total number of lactation rooms in the workplaces and public areas, even though the law and decrees obliged employers to already have spaces for breastfeeding for their workers, as well as give them the extraction times so that the mother can extract breast milk during her working hours.
The National Breastfeeding Commission prepared a draft for the reform of the decree, and one of the proposed changes was to assign a specific office to be in charge of the evaluation and approval of each room and thus be able to have the records and count of each room in the country.
One of the topics covered at the forum was breastfeeding in emergencies. Dr. Ruiz Valera considered that the country must continue working to provide information to the emergency committees in each area to raise awareness about the importance of protecting breastfeeding and promote continuing it as much as possible, as well as re-feeding if possible, since in emergencies, the water sources are the first to be affected, either by contamination or decrease, since water is required to make the milk or to wash utensils such as pacifiers. It is also better if there is drinking water to be able to give it to the mother so that she is well hydrated and thus feeds her child directly from the breast without the risk of the baby getting sick.
I liked this topic because, in Costa Rica, we were working inter-institutionally with the National Emergency Commission in developing the guidelines of Measures for the management of breastfeeding during emergencies, which reinforced what had been done and saw that we are on the right track in defending breastfeeding in these situations where children, mothers and families are most vulnerable. - Dr. Karol Ruiz Valera
During the World Breastfeeding Week, and in line with the government's motto, " Closing the gap: supporting breastfeeding in all situations ", the Costa Rican government had the opportunity to officially present the guidelines for measures for managing breastfeeding during emergencies, with the presence of the Minister of Health and Vice President of the Republic of Costa Rica.
Other activities carried out in Costa Rica were when two hospitals were being evaluated as part of the Baby-Friendly Hospitals Initiative (IHANN), and one of the points to be evaluated was the knowledge of health personnel on the subject of breastfeeding in the areas of childbirth, maternity, and paediatrics. The link to the "Magic Drop" course was shared with them before the evaluation so that professionals could take the course, become more aware of the subject, and have greater knowledge with an international certificate to support them, which was enriching for them, and by evaluating each hospital, they achieved certification and were thus designated as part of the Baby-Friendly Hospitals Initiative (IHANN).
The virtual course "The Magic Drop" has been one of the instruments that we have socialised to health professionals and breastfeeding advisors so that they can also have this great resource to be applied in their work. It has also been shared and recommended to mothers and their families so that they know the importance of preferring and putting breastfeeding first, as well as the difficulties and how to overcome them so that it is a beautiful experience for families. - Dr. Karol Ruiz Valera
