Improved breastfeeding practices can save 100,000 children’s lives, $22m – UNICEF

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has observed that improved breastfeeding practices could save over 100,000 children’s lives each year and save $22 million in healthcare treatment costs related to inadequate breastfeeding in Nigeria.

It also added that the improved breastfeeding practices would generate an additional $21 billion for the economy over children’s productive years by increasing cognitive capacity and preventing premature mortality in the early years.

UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr Cristian Munduate in a statement to mark the 2023 World Breastfeeding Week with the theme: “A Lifeline for Children and Economies: The Urgent Call for Greater Breastfeeding Support Across All Workplaces.” made this observation.

She stressed that, “Breastfeeding stands as a crucial pillar in safeguarding infants against life-threatening infections, supporting optimal brain development in children, and reducing the incidence of chronic childhood and maternal illnesses, ultimately lowering healthcare costs.
Breast Milk is not just a super-food and vaccine, it is also a smart investment.”

According to UNICEF representative, “There is evidence today that every N1000 invested in supporting breastfeeding can yield an estimated 35,000 Naira in economic returns for Nigeria.”

“While I acknowledge significant strides made in the past two decades in Nigeria to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates, it remains evident that more needs to be done,” She added.

The UNICEF Country Representative lamented that “Presently, only 7 out of 36 states provide six months fully paid maternity leave and only 34 per cent of children aged 0 to 6 months are exclusively breastfed as recommended by UNICEF. Nigeria is still far from reaching the World Health Assembly’s 70 per cent target by 2030.”

She also stated, “Presently, women make up 20 million out of the 46 million workforce in Nigeria; 95 per cent are within the informal sector, while the formal sector only employs 5 per cent. Shockingly, only 9 per cent of organizations have a workplace breastfeeding policy, with only 1.5 per cent in the public sector. Women in the informal sector have nearly no support for breastfeeding.”

UNICEF noted that “It is important to have policies that support breastfeeding, such as paid maternity leave for six months, as well as paid paternity leave, flexible return-to-work options, regular lactation breaks during working hours and adequate facilities that enable mothers to continue exclusively breastfeeding for six months, followed by age-appropriate complementary feeding while breastfeeding continues to two years and beyond.”

“Global analysis reveals that elevating rates of exclusive breastfeeding could save the lives of an astounding 820,000 children under the age of five annually, generating an additional income of US $302 billion.”