‘Breastfed babies are fat babies, a myth’

A medical expert, Mrs Olubukola Ladun-Oluroye says it is a misconception that all babies on exclusive breastfeeding must be fat.

Ladun-Oluroye, Chairman, Paediatric Nurses Association, University College Hospital (UCH), who made this known at a baby show to commemorate the 2022 World breastfeeding week at the hospitals’ Ajimobi Immunisation Centre, stated that breast milk contains the right nutrition for a baby and there is no cause for the baby to be excessively fat.

According to her, “Fatness is not a criterion that a baby that is doing well on breastfeeding.  Breast milk contains the right nutrition in the right proportion. The baby will gain the right weight at the point of development.

“A baby that is doing very well on breast milk will be active; such a baby will achieve appropriate weight according to age. All the baby’s senses will be working- good vision, movement and coordination. There is no sickness, fever or diarrhoea.

“When a baby is not appropriately fed, it has repercussions. For instance, the baby may be obese and that is not good for health. Obesity in a baby is an indication of inappropriate feeding.”

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Mrs Bolanle Popoola, UCH’s head of paediatric unit of the clinical nursing department, speaking on the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, said breast milk was a miracle feed and babies born prematurely with adequate breastfeeding has a chance to develop effectively as expected without any delay in their growth and attain good intelligence quotient.

Earlier, the hospital’s head of the department of public health nursing, Mrs Grace Ogundele said the baby show which had over 100 babies, between age two months and above, was because of the importance the hospital attaches to breastfeeding.

She added, “we need to take breastfeeding to another level; we want to improve the rate at which mothers breastfeed. Some women, especially the youth, believe that their breasts will become flabby, but we want our babies to benefit from breastfeeding.

“Now the cost of living in Nigeria is three times more. But if you have a baby, you don’t need to buy infant formula. Breast milk is very important, a child that is given formulae will always behave like a cow, but a child given breast milk will always behave like humans.”