World Breastfeeding Week: Health Practitioners Stress Need For Exclusive Breastfeeding

By Ayodele Oluwafemi

Health practitioners in Benin have stressed the need for exclusive breastfeeding for infants as an essential ingredient for child survival and development.

The practitioners drawn from the Institute of Child Health, University of Benin, Benin-City spoke at the commencement of the World Breastfeeding Week on Thursday at a symposium themed “Foundation of Life: Empower parents, enable breastfeeding” at the Oba Akenzua II Complex UBTH.

The symposium was aimed at informing and engaging necessary stakeholders on the necessity and dynamics of exclusive breastfeeding. 

Speaking at the symposium, a Professor of Child Health and Consultant, Prof. (Mrs) Ayobor Sadoh emphasized that the ideal food for human infant is the breast milk, noting that exclusive breastfeeding should given to a baby from 0 to 6 months in order to enhance the survival strategy of a child.

Prof. Sadoh, further stressed that exclusive breastfeeding prevents infections, morbidity, mortality and malnutrition in a child, adding that optimal breastfeeding of a child can only be achieved through exclusive and complimentary breastfeeding.

“Breast milk is the ideal food for human infant, exclusive breastfeeding is necessary for infant within 0 to 6 months and it is very necessary for a child survival and development. Exclusive breastfeeding prevents infections thereby reducing morbidity and mortality of children.

The Child Health Practitioner lamented over the bias of gender roles in terms of breastfeeding, noting that breastfeeding responsibilities should not be abandoned for mothers only as fathers also have critical roles to play by encouraging and supporting women to breastfeed. 

Also speaking, Mrs. Aghogho Oboh, a nurse reiterated the importance of fathers in providing emotional, financial and physical support for nursing mothers in order to encourage nursing mothers for exclusive breastfeeding.

Mrs. Aghogho also stressed on the economic value of exclusive breastfeeding, noting that exclusive breastfeeding encourages financial management as the natural milk inherent in nursing mothers are free unlike infant food that require financial commitment.

“Fathers are important in the process of exclusive breastfeeding, they need to provide necessary support for their wives. Exclusive breastfeeding helps to save economic resources as there is no need to buy infant milk that are expensive,” she noted.

On her part, Mrs, Osarogue Osarenmen, a gynaecologist affirmed that exclusive breastfeeding helps to develop the intelligent ability and immunity efficiency of a child, while urging government at all levels to ensure that the obstacles faced by nursing mothers in terms of work demands should be addressed.

“I am a mother of two and still expecting one at the moment, I breastfed all my children and have seen the evidences. Exclusive breastfeeding helps to boost the memory capacity of a child and it helps to increase the immunity efficiency of a child.

Earlier, the Acting Director of the Institute of Child Health, UNIBEN, Dr. Nwaneri Damian highlighted that the symposium is gearing towards informing, anchoring, engaging and galvanizing the need for exclusive breastfeeding.

He, however, called all government at all levels to implement the 16 weeks maternity leave, in order to ensure that nursing mothers are adequately motivated.

The high point of the symposium was the question and answer segment, in which, participants were further enlightened on the grey areas encountered during the course of the lecture.

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG