Ebele Egoh
The Chief Medical Officer of Comprehensive Health Centre Atani, Dr. Isaiah Umeoranefo says breastfeeding is important to mothers as well as the children.
He stated this at an event to mark the 2023 World Breastfeeding Week held at the Atani Health Centre.
The CMO said that breastfeeding infant is a public health priority because of its benefit and that recent studies have shown that it protects the health of the infant, and decreases the chances of metabolic disorders and the rate of child mortality.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), breastfeeding on demand, day and night with no water or other food supplements would curb neonatal and infant mortality.
``Nigeria, alongside over 170 countries, observed World Breastfeeding Week from 1–7 August to campaign for and encourage exclusive breastfeeding, promote infant feeding best practices, and warned against the risk of formula feeding”, Dr Umeoranefo said.
He observed that across Nigeria, governments at all levels engaged in activities to encourage women to breastfeed their babies.
He saw the need to look critically at the state of exclusive breastfeeding in Nigeria, especially in light of the huge challenges facing the nation in the area of child malnutrition.
``In Africa, 5 million children die each year before they celebrate their 5th birthday due to diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, malnutrition, and infectious diseases. In Africa, death is stalking the baby at every corner; comparatively, an infant is fourteen times more likely to die in its first month of life than in a Western country.
``Yet, there is a life elixir available to every baby, regardless of its family’s social, cultural, and financial status. Breast milk has all the health and nutritional values a baby needs to grow and survives without recourse to artificial food and additional expenses to a family.
``According to experts from the WHO and UNICEF, the generalization of exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of a baby's life would make it possible to curb neonatal and infant mortality and save 200,000 lives each year in the West Africa region alone.
``According to Save, the Children’s report ‘A Life Free From Hunger: Tackling Child Malnutrition’, 11 million Nigerian children are chronically malnourished and this could increase to 13.4 million in a few years if nothing is done to address the situation.
``41% of Nigerian children under the age of 5 are stunted, that is, too short for their age, 14% of children are too thin for their age, while nearly one child in every four is underweight.’’
Dr. Umeoranefo regretted that despite the incontrovertible evidence, only 13% of Nigerian children under six months are exclusively breastfed. This speaks volumes about child survival in Nigeria.
He enumerated some of the reasons why so many children are deprived of breastfeeding to include, including lack of public awareness about benefits, lack of conducive working environments for nursing mothers, marketing of breast milk substitutes, and attitudes of some health workers and family members.
``Some of the benefits of breastfeeding are, colostrums (the milk produced at the end of pregnancy) is recommended by the World Health Organization as the perfect food for newborns. It contains antibodies that protect infants from bacteria, viruses, and other childhood illnesses such as diarrhea and respiratory infections which are the two primary causes of child mortality worldwide.
``Breastfeeding also promotes bonding between infant and mother.
``Breast milk is affordable and readily available at the right temperature, which helps to ensure that infants get adequate sustenance.
``Studies have also shown that adults who were breastfed as babies often have lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol, as well as lower rates of obesity and type-2 diabetes.
``Despite the health benefits of breastfeeding, working mothers face some challenges in their breastfeeding practices. Reconciling work and breastfeeding is a challenge for mothers in Nigeria and with the increase in women's employment, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding is on the decline, especially in urban areas.
``In CHC Atani we teach breastfeeding mothers this with passion and the need to feed the infant with only breast milk at least for the first six months of Life during our medical Outreach”, the health expert noted.
He recommended that as we celebrate World Breastfeeding Week 2023, the Federal Government and Anambra state Government should, as a matter of urgency, consider increasing the current maternity leave from four months to six months to encourage mothers to exclusively breastfeed their babies.
‘’We must remember that it’s everyone’s duty – governments, corporate organizations, employers, the media, religious leaders, health workers, policymakers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, and parents to support nursing mothers”, he emphasized. (MOI)
Comments
Post a Comment