Please share
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF,has expressed concern over the low rate of exclusive breastfeeding in South South states, saying it is a sin for mothers not to practice exclusive breastfeeding.
The agency also told nursing mothers that exclusive breastfeeding is not responsible for breast-sagging.
UNICEF Rivers field office, Mrs. Ngozi Onuora made the assertion in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state capital during day zonal media dialogue for select journalists as part of the activities to mark the 2021 World Breastfeeding week
Onuora punctured claims by some mothers that they stopped breastfeeding after two weeks, three weeks, one month, because of insufficient breastmilk to continue breastfeeding.
She tasked stakeholders to take up the responsibility of ensuring that the society returned to the heritage of exclusive breastfeeding through advocacy because of the benefits to the development and overall well-being of a child
She added: “It is everybody’s responsibility to protect children. And I want to tell us that it is a sin for mothers not to practice exclusive breastfeeding which is child’s first food as an infant. It is also a more sin for us individuals, stakeholders in the society that are not encouraging mothers to practice exclusive breastfeeding.
“Exclusive breastfeeding has a lot of benefit. Breastfeeding is a powerful life-saver. It is also critical to the long term health and well-being of both mother and child. Unfortunately, the majority of world’s mothers are not able to optimally breastfeed their children. In fact the most current survey globally, only 41% of infants are exclusively breastfed in the first 6 months and suboptimal breastfeeding practices contribute to roughly, 800, 000 child deaths annually. This is on the high side.And various things affect mothers in practising breastfeeding. For example, there are no set out strategies and supports to encourage mothers to breastfeed; there is no enabling environment to ensure that we protect breastfeeding”
Please share