Health
AS the world marks World Breastfeeding Week this week, pediatricians say breast milk is the first food most newborns taste as they arrive into this world. Experts say it holds lots of positives for child survival and social interaction.
According to the Federal Ministry of Health it is important for mother to ignore unscientific claims about breastfeeding and feed their babies exclusively with breast. Some critics of breast feeding say it causes sagging of breast.
“The ministry also wishes to emphasise that working places should be made conducive to encourage breastfeeding as this will enhance productivity for these mothers, while assuring their nurturing role.
“Breast milk is very nutritious and builds the immunity of the baby. It also protects babies from common diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia.
“Much more, the bonding between mother and baby during breastfeeding improves emotional and social development of the child, said Ms Patricia Deworitshe, Director, Media and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) in a statement ahead of the World Breastfeeding Week (WBW).
She reminded the public that breast milk remains the ideal food for infants, adding that it is readily available, cheap, safe, clean and gives the first form of protection against many common childhood illnesses.
However, it seems that many state governments and nursing mothers are not on the same page with the ministry.
Available records show that only 7 out of 36 states provide six months fully paid maternity leave and only 34 per cent of children aged 0 to 6 months are exclusively breastfed as recommended by UNICEF.
A World Health Organisation (WHO) report on breast feeding in Nigeria is not flattering.
According to WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, in a message on 2022 edition of (WBFW) in Nigeria, the exclusive breastfeeding rate is 29 per cent,
“This means that over 70 per cent of infants in Nigeria are denied the benefits of breast milk in their formative years.
“Only nine per cent of organisations have a workplace breastfeeding policy, indicating that mothers lack the enabling environment to optimally breastfeed their babies.
“The consequence of this is stunning on infant health indices.
“The results are high stunting rates of 37 per cent of children under five, of which 21 per cent are severe, and wasting among children under five years of age (seven per cent). These continue to present severe consequences for the child”, said Ghebreyesus
According to experts, child wasting refers to a child who is too thin for his or her height and is the result of recent rapid weight loss or the failure to gain weight.
The statistics from Nigeria is sharply different from what obtains in Ghana where studies by Shamsudeen Mohammed and his team of scholars showed prevalence of exclusive breast feeding among children 0-6 months to be 50 per cent.
“The prevalence was higher in rural areas (54 per cent) than in urban areas (44 per cent: said the 2023 report published in BMC Public Health, an international journal.
Dr Temidayo Odebunmi, Head, Infant and Young Child Feeding, Nutrition Division, Federal Ministry of Health, while highlighting the benefits of optimal breastfeeding, dispelled the misconception that breastfeeding made the breast to distort and sag.
“Breastfeeding does not make a child to eat less; neither does it make the breast to sag.
“You must feed the babies with patience, little by little and with variety of nutritional foods to make the breast milk flow adequately for the child to thrive on’’ she said.
According to her, breastfeeding does not cause sagging, rather certain factors such as little or no exercise, unbalanced diet; lack of good supports like wearing of bra and others contribute to the non-firmness of breast.
“The breasts sag as a woman grows older as the firmness of a breast is affected by the age and other factors, not necessarily breastfeeding.’’
Similarly, Mr Babajide Adebisi, Deputy Director, Nutrition International, FMoH, highlighted the need to adhere to optimal breastfeeding practices to ensure a child gets adequate nutrients from breast milk.
Adebisi encouraged mothers to consume healthy food, maintain healthy lifestyle and ensure that the babies were exclusively fed with breast milk from zero to six months.
He also urged employers to create a conducive and flexible workspace for nursing mothers to properly breastfeed their babies properly.
Mrs Grace Mogekwu, Chief Scientific Officer, Social Behavioral Change Communication (SBCC), FMoH. She advocates breastfeeding practices one hour after delivery.
“We are not encouraging the use of infant formula, except on rare occasions, where necessary due to some factors.
“And when it is introduced, it must be practiced under strict hygienic environment”, she said.
According to UNICEF improved breastfeeding practices can save more than 100,000 children each year in Nigeria and 22 million dollars in health care treatment costs related to inadequate breastfeeding
Ms Cristian Munduate, the UNICEF, Nigeria Country Representative, was quoted by the media as saying that: “there is evidence today that every N1,000 invested in supporting breastfeeding can yield an estimated N35,000 in economic returns for Nigeria.
“While I acknowledge significant strides made in the past two decades in Nigeria to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates, it remains evident that more needs to be done.
“Presently, only seven out of 36 states provide six months fully paid maternity leave and only 34 per cent of children aged zero to six months are exclusively breastfed as recommended by UNICEF.
“Nigeria is still far from reaching the World Health Assembly 70 per cent target by 2030,’’ Munduate said.
Breast milk was not just a super-food and vaccine, but also a smart investment as analysis reveals that elevating rates of exclusive breastfeeding could save the lives of 820,000 children under the age of five annually, generating an additional income of 302 billion dollars.
“Breast milk is the first vaccine and the first food that every child receives at birth.
“Breastfeeding stands as a crucial pillar in safeguarding infants against life-threatening infections, supporting optimal brain development in children and reducing the incidence of chronic childhood and maternal illnesses”, she said”, Munduate said.
Breast milk is important to child survival. It is the duty of relevant stakeholders to escalate enlightenment campaigns on its benefits to the child, mother and society at large. (NANFeatures)
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August 4, 2023 @ 13:25 GMT|
Tags: Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus Mr Babajide Adebisi Ms Patricia Deworitshe
