The Federal Government, alongside USAID-funded Breakthrough Action Nigeria (BAN) Project have urged mothers to exclusively breastfeed their children for at least six months.
They stressed that exclusively breastfeeding children for at least six months provides immunity and protection avainst infections and diseases, develops the brain, builds cognitive capacities of children, among other benefits.
Lafiya360 reports that they also urged organizations to promote policies and provide enabling environment that encourages working class mothers to breastfeed their children.
Speaking during this year’s world breastfeeding week with the theme: enabling breastfeeding, making a difference for working parents, the Director and Head of Micronutrient Deficiency Control, Federal Ministry of Health, Chief John Uruakpa John said, “When you breastfeed a child for six months exclusively, the immunity of that child is built against any sickness, disease or infection. You equip the child nutritionally so that by the time you introduce complementary foods at six months, the child will be able to grow properly.
“The breast milk has antibodies that protects the child when the child is born. Also, when a child is born, the stomach is very small, and it is not equip to digest any kind of food except breast milk.
“At six months, you can introduce the micronutrient powder to improve the nutrient content of the child’s food, so that he or she can properly develop.
“The issue we have in Nigeria is that we are breastfeeding but not exclusively breastfeeding. Some mothers introduce water within that first six months. Some even introduce food or mixed feeding within the first six months. This means you are no longer exclusively breastfeeding your child for six month.”
He added, “From the last National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) of 2018, only 29 per cent of women exclusively breastfeed their children. We have up to 90 per cent of Nigerian women breastfeeding. So, if you minus 29 per cent, you will see that you have almost 60 per cent adding water. If we can sensitize this section adding water to stop adding water, then, Nigeria will get up to 90 per cent.
“The essence of this celebration is sensitize our mothers and get the men involved. If the husband does not provide enabling environment, the woman may not exclusively breastfeeed her child.
“Also, if the working class mothers do not have a place where they can breastfeed their children, they cannot exclusively breastfeed.
“We encourage organizations to provide to provide an environment that will enable our mothers to breastfeed. That is why the government in its wisdom has approved 16 weeks maternity leave, and we are pushing for six months, which we are getting food feelers, and it will soon be approved. Even at that, some states have approved six months, and even given the father’s paternity leave of two weeks. Also, the father’s are pushing for more, say four weeks.”
Speaking on behalf of the USAID-funded Breakthrough Action Nigeria Project, Angela Samba, said: “The goal of our project is to increase the practice of priority health and nutrition behaviour, which breast feeding is one of them. We work with communities, government, and a lot of other partners to ensure that people know about these practices and are able to adopt it.
“The workplace has a very significant role to play in ensuring that mothers are able to breastfeed effectively. In Nigeria, a lot of mothers breastfeed, yet our stunting rate is very high. The reason is that although mothers breastfeed, they don’t breastfeed appropriately. We are advocating optimal breastfeeding.
“We are also talking about giving nutrition-appropriate complementary foods in addition to breast milk from six months to atleast two years. We also want the work place to consider these things in developing specific breastfeeding policoes that promotes breastfeeding in the workplace. A lot of the population of women we have are working mothers, and so, if the workplace is not conducive for them, it means that they would not be able to practice this nutrition behaviours that we are promoting.”