By IJEOMA UKAZU
Abiodun Semilore, 25 and a first-time mother is lost of what exclusive breastfeeding entails. A school certificate holder says the little she knows about exclusive breastfeeding was when she visited her aunt in Abeokuta to assist her take care of baby.
She said, “To me, exclusive breastfeeding is giving my child breast milk, water and without baby food till six months.
Little did she know that exclusive breastfeeding as the name implies, is giving the child just breast milk without water and food till six months.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization, WHO recommend that children initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life – meaning no other foods or liquids are provided, including water. Infants should be breastfed on demand – that is as often as the child wants, day and night.
Hearing this for the first time, Semilore told The Daily Newswave in Mushin, Lagos Staate that she is unaware of the nitty gritty of exclusive breastfeeding and promises to continue with just breast milk and replicate when she has other children.
The 25 year-old who is a fashion designer, promises to be promises to be a strong
advocate of exclusive breastfeeding in her locality and among her friends who are also unaware.
Nutrition experts say, optimal nutrition provided by breastfeeding along with nurturing, care, and stimulation strengthens a child’s brain development with positive impacts that endure over a lifetime.
They said, the initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour of birth, followed by exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond, offer a powerful line of defence against all forms of child malnutrition, including wasting and obesity.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF breastfeeding acts as babies’ first vaccine, protecting them against many common childhood illnesses and death.
“Even for mother’s with twins and triplet,
it is possible for a mother to exclusively breastfeed them for six months. Breastmilk is produced when the babies suckle and the more they suckle the breast on demand, both day and night, the more breastmilk is produced,” the former Executive Secretary, Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition In Nigeria, CS-SUNN Beatrice Eluaka.
Eluaka said that the mother only needs to be supported by the family to remove any condition that could cause her stress, pointing that nursing mothers needs to eat well, drink water in order to feel good and have the energy she needs to breastfeed her babies.
Health analysts has said that breastfeeding is central to realising the commitment made while launching the Nutrition for Growth Year of Action as the Year of Action is a historic opportunity to transform the way the world tackles the global commitment to eliminate child malnutrition.
According to the UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore and World Health Organisation, WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus stated that COVID-19 disrupted breastfeeding support service and increased child malnutrition globally.
The duo collaborates that, “while there has been progress in breastfeeding rates in the last four decades with a 50 percent increase in the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding globally, the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the fragility of those gains.
“In many countries, the pandemic has caused significant disruptions in breastfeeding support services, while increasing the risk of food insecurity and malnutrition. Several countries have reported that producers of baby foods have compounded these risks by invoking unfounded fears that breastfeeding can transmit COVID-19 and marketing their products as a safer alternative to breastfeeding.”
In Nigeria, UNICEF and WHO said one in eight children do not reach their fifth birthday and three in 10 children are stunted, stressing that optimal breastfeeding practices are known to reduce neonatal and child morbidities and mortality rates as well as stunting reduction.
Available statistics in Nigeria also revealed that the average duration of exclusive breastfeeding is approximately three months and only three out of every 10 children under six months of age were exclusively breastfed (29 percent).
This is an improvement from 17 percent in 2013 to 29 percent in 2018 according to the National Demographic Health Survey, NDHS 2013; 2018, however, this still falls significantly below the target of 50 percent set by the World Health Assembly to be achieved in 2025 and the SDG target for 2030. The percentage of children who were breastfed within one hour of birth (42 percent) remains less than 50 percent target.
UNICEF and WHO said breastfeeding rates in Nigeria reduce with age – 83 percent of the children are breastfed up to one year, while 28 percent are breastfeeding till two years. Furthermore, the proportion of children who are not breastfeeding increases with age.
They said, exclusive breastfeeding is a shared responsibility and a time to revisit the commitments made at the start of this year by prioritizing breastfeeding-friendly environments for mothers and babies which includes:
“Ensuring the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, established to protect mothers from aggressive marketing practices by the baby food industry is fully implemented by governments, health workers and industry.
“Ensuring health care workers have the resources and information they need to effectively support mothers to breastfeed, including through global efforts such as the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative, and guidelines on breastfeeding counselling.
“Ensuring employers allow women the time and space they need to breastfeed; including paid parental leave with longer maternity leave; safe places for breastfeeding in the workplace; access to affordable and good-quality childcare; and universal child benefits and adequate wages”, they stated.
The duo further said, “as we approach the UN Food Systems Summit in September and the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit in December, governments, donors, civil society and the private sector all have an opportunity to make smart investments and commitments to tackle the global malnutrition crisis – including protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding – through stronger policies, programmes and actions.
“Now is not the time to lower our ambitions. Now is the time to aim high. We are committed to making the Nutrition for Growth Year of Action a success by ensuring that every child’s right to nutritious, safe and affordable food and adequate nutrition is realized from the beginning of life, starting with breastfeeding”.
The Communication Officer, UNICEF Nigeria, Ijeoma Onuoha-Ogwe said that breastfeeding can bring unparalleled joy and connection between a mother and her child. Yet many women also experience challenges, frustration, and even sometimes pain around the act of breastfeeding.
Speaking, Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. George Ugwu pointed that, “breastfeeding is key to newborn survival. Children who are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life are 14 times more likely to survive than non-breastfed children. Breastfeeding also improves a child’s quality of life by supporting cognitive development and health – ultimately helping advance a child’s prospects in life”.
Contributing, health center nutrition focal person in Aninri LGA, Sunday Ogbodo said, “during the antenatal clinic days at the health center, we teach mothers how to exclusively breastfeed and explain the numerous health benefits of exclusive breastfeeding to the child and mother, which include giving the child immunity at birth. It is also a way of family planning for mothers who wish to space their children naturally”.
Ogbodo added that through support from UNICEF and Ministry of Health in Enugu State, breastfeeding support groups were established to follow-up with nursing mothers, ensuring that optimal breastfeeding continues at home, even when the new mothers are discharged from the clinic.