UNICEF promoting exclusive breastfeeding for child’s survival beyond first 1,000 days of life

On the heels of the World Breastfeeding Week celebration, which harped on the need for exclusive breastfeeding of infants, ISHOLA MICHAEL writes that breastfeeding mothers need support to achieve this.

It is said that breastfeeding, especially the exclusive one, is one of the smartest investments to save lives, improve the health and development of children, boost human capital, stimulate economic growth and give every child the same opportunity to thrive and live.

Exclusive breastfeeding provides low cost, complete nutrition for infants, protects them against infections including infant diarrhea and prolongs lactation amenorrhea, thereby increasing birth spacing.

Findings show that the exclusive breastfeeding rate in Nigeria is 29 percent, indicating that only a mere percentage of infants aged zero to six months are exclusively breastfed, with 71 percent of infants not enjoying the benefits of breast milk in their formative years.

To advance the call for optimal breastfeeding of children, the paid maternity leave policy was introduced in Nigeria in 2021 to allow nursing mothers to stay off work for 12 weeks (six weeks before the birth of her baby and six weeks after). The Labour Act also allows for at least 50 percent salary and upon return to work half an hour twice a day during work hours to breastfeed.

The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was also launched in 1991 to encourage exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for at least one year of life. The initiative has been launched in at least 152 countries worldwide and in several parts of Nigeria.

Breastfeeding is linked to Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – Ensure quality education and care. Breastfeeding is critical for the health of women and babies but it also contributes to the health of the planet.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) advises that infants should be breastfed on demand – that is as often as the child wants, day and night. No bottles, teats or pacifiers should be used. The health body also noted that from six months of age, children should begin eating safe and adequate complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed for up to two years or beyond.

A survey showed the major constraints to exclusive breastfeeding are the perception that babies continued to be hungry after breastfeeding (29 percent); maternal health problems (26 percent); fear of babies becoming addicted to breast milk (26 percent); pressure from mother-in-law (25 percent); pains in the breast (25 percent) and the need to ensure that the baby get the required benefits of exclusive breastfeeding.

To celebrate the 2023 World Breastfeeding Week (WBW), UNICEF Nigeria, through the Bauchi Field Office, organised activities that included a media dialogue as well as facility visits for journalists in Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The event, with the theme, ‘Enabling breast-feeding: Making a Difference for Working Parents,’ held at Katagum LGA, Bauchi State.

In his opening remark, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Bauchi, Dr Tushar Rane, stressed that babies who are not breastfed are 14 times more likely to die before they reach their first birthday than babies who are exclusively breastfed.

Dr Rane said, “It is the mainstay for safeguarding infants against life-threatening infections. It supports optimal brain development in children, especially in the first 1,000 days and it ultimately lowers healthcare costs.

“We understand that optimal infant feeding is a cornerstone for human capital development while poor Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices bears major risks to child survival and socio-economic growth.”

He stressed that the World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year to reiterate the importance of breastfeeding for children, mothers and socioeconomic development, saying, “Breast milk is the first vaccine for every child.”

He explained that this year’s WBW brings attention to workplace breastfeeding, pointing out that women make up 20 million out of the 46 million workforce in Nigeria; 95 percent are within the informal sector while the formal sector only employs five percent. Shockingly, only nine percent of organisations have a workplace breastfeeding policy, with only 1.5 percent in the public sector. Women in the informal sector have nearly no support for breastfeeding.

Dr Rane added that, “Workplace challenges to breastfeeding are one of the primary factors responsible for early cessation of breastfeeding. Women require sufficient time and support to breastfeed successfully. For working mothers, juggling between tasks and breastfeeding may be nearly often impossible.

“Nigeria currently implements two maternity entitlement provisions. The first, which is recognised at all levels of public service and codified in the Nigerian Labour Act, provides up to 12 weeks of maternity leave with at least 50 percent of salary and, upon return to work, half an hour twice a day during working hours to breastfeed.

“The second recently adopted by the Federal Public Service and yet to be ratified by the state and local government civil service, is a 16-week maternity leave provision with full pay and two hours off each day to breastfeed up to six months after the employee resumes duty.

“Family-friendly workplace policies such as paid maternity leave, breastfeeding breaks and a room where mothers can breastfeed or express milk are also a win for employers.”

A UNICEF nutrition specialist, Philomena Irene, in her presentation, warned mothers that engaging in artificial feeding of infants instead of breastfeeding is injurious with so many health risks to the growth, development and survival of the child in its first 1,000 days of life.

Irene, therefore, called on the women to rather embrace exclusive breastfeeding which is “vital to a more sustainable world as the only way out to guarantee the safety and survival of a child in his first six months.”

She added that breast milk contains all the ideal nutrients for infant growth and the antibodies that help a baby to fight viruses, bacteria and all forms of infections, including childhood obesity, diabetes and increases their intelligence among many other benefits.

The nutrition specialist further noted that breast-fed children have at least six times greater chances of survival in the early months than un-breast-fed children, stressing that “exclusively breast-fed children are 14 times less likely to die in the first six months than those not breast-fed.”

She then advocated for increase funding to scale up interventions in order to raise breastfeeding rates while the government and partners at all levels should enact paid maternity leave and breastfeeding breaks and crèches, including in private/informal sector.

During the facility visits, the woman who spoke with Nigerian Tribune blamed non-compliance to exclusive breastfeeding on elders’ influence as they were discouraged from practising the method.

A nursing mother in Bulkachuwa town, Katagum LGA, Bauchi State, Mrs Hassana Usman, said in all her childbirths, she did not practise exclusive breastfeeding for six months.

“I have eight children and all of them survived with breast milk and boiled water which I feed them from three to four days after birth,” Usman told Nigerian Tribune at Bulkachuwa Primary Health Centre where she came for routine immunisation with her baby.

Usman said she was made to believe that there is no wrong in complementing breast milk with water for a child below six months as being advocated by health experts.

She, however, admitted that it is good to adhere to calls for exclusive breastfeeding of babies for six months from health experts, but said pressure from family elders necessitated her action.

“We have elders in our households and we believe they know better than us. So, we have no option but to yield to their influence. I use to give boiled water to my babies as complement to the breast milk and wean them after 18 months,” she said.

She said there are many women in her community who share similar opinion and experience with her despite hearing from the authorities about the health benefits of exclusive breastfeeding to both the child and the mother.

“I do come for antenatal care and immunisation at this hospital and they use to tell us about exclusive breastfeeding and other health tips, but I don’t think it is mandatory to adhere to it.

“Any time I try to embrace the practice, they say I am punishing the baby by not feeding him enough. They will say breast milk alone is not enough for the baby and that I should complement it with water,” Usman added.

However, for Maryam Abdulkadir, a resident of Bulkachuwa community, exclusive breastfeeding has impacted positively in the lives of her babies.

“I have two children and all of them benefitted from exclusive breastfeeding. Their performance in education is very pleasing,” she said.

Abdulkadir, who is married to a health personnel, said having realised the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, she did same for her two children and has been encouraging on her neighbours to also do same.

“I have been advising them to practice exclusive breastfeeding because it gives protection to children against child killer diseases.

“My two children don’t easily fall sick and they look much healthier all the time even if they do, the sickness is always mild and as such, we the parents don’t spend money in treating ailments,” she said.

She, therefore, urged other women who are not practicing exclusive breastfeeding to embrace the practice for the good health of their children.