Mountjoy can cater for breast-feeding

All necessary facilities will be made available to the breast-feeding mother who was sentenced to seven days for refusing to …

All necessary facilities will be made available to the breast-feeding mother who was sentenced to seven days for refusing to undertake not to interfere with bin lorries yesterday, according to the governor of Mountjoy.

Mr John Lonergan told The Irish Times that it was a choice for the parents whether the baby would accompany its mother in prison or not.

The new women's prison has extensive facilities for mothers, and since it opened four years ago, two babies have been born there and both spent the first year or so of their lives there, he said.

Facilities include provision for the mother to have a room of her own, a cot and a place for the baby to play.

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"We have little rooms that are quite suitable for that purpose, and she won't have other prisoners in on top of her," he said.

He pointed out that the 1947 Prison Rules provide for accommodating women with children "at the breast", up to a maximum age of 12 months. However, he said the women's prison would not make an issue of the age of the child if he or she was more than 12 months.

"We will deal with it in the most humane way possible.

"Really this is a choice for the parents. We will facilitate them in any way.

"Even if they want the baby brought in during the day we'd be very flexible around that," he said.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the La Leche League has said that breast-feeding should be tapered off gradually.

It should never be stopped abruptly because it puts the mother's health at risk, said Ms Margaret McGuigan.

Overly full breasts are painful and put the mother at serious risk of mastitis, an infection which requires antibiotics.

Expressing milk, if the mother knows how to do it and is supplied with appropriate equipment and expertise, can prevent engorgement of the breasts.

It does not ease the psychological trauma, however.

From the child's point of view, the sudden separation from the mother creates emotional anxiety that can never be repaired.

"The child is going to experience such distress.

"Everything the child has known from birth - the child's security, comfort and meaning - is swept away.

"The child is going to be very distressed and upset and when the mother comes back, the relationship between mother and child is never going to be the same," said Ms McGuigan.

"The child will be afraid that the mother will disappear if the child turns away."

Breast-fed babies and toddlers have been proven in medical studies to be healthier. Breastfeeding boosts the immune system.

The Department of Health recommends that all children be breast-fed until the age of two "and beyond", while both the World Health Organisation and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that breastfeeding continue until the age of two, at least.