Why supporting breastfeeding supports the future —Experts

Mrs Adio Akinkugbe was with a small feeding bottle and about to give it to her three-month-old son. The mother of two said that she resorted to bottle feeding because she doesn’t have the stamina to feed her son breast milk.

“My husband couldn’t tolerate his cry, particularly at night, and he was the one who suggested bottle feeding with pap sweetened with sugar. It is only someone who eats well that can breastfeed her baby exclusively,” she retorted.

Many other women, like Mrs Akinkugbe, also didn’t exclusively breastfeed their 5-month-old baby. She had sore nipples a few days after delivery, and the mother-in-law insisted on giving her an herbal concoction and water because her baby frequently experienced colic.

Still, breast milk plays a critical role in providing infants with adequate nutrients and hydration. Sadly, as per the NDHS 2023-2024, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in Nigeria is about 29 per cent. Even in urban settings, the number of women who breastfeed is far from expected.

Muhammad Okorie, UNICEF’s social policy manager and officer-in-charge of the Lagos field office, said Nigerians’ declining rates of optimal breastfeeding practice are linked to a lack of supportive systems for breastfeeding successfully at home, in healthcare settings, at the workplace and in the community.

According to him, “It’s important to note that breastfeeding is a community effort because we know even in Africa, to raise a child is a community effort. That applies to breastfeeding as well.”

Mr Okorie added, “So, it then becomes the responsibility of everyone, starting from the husband, to give that moral support and encouragement to the wife to breastfeed. They should be ready to stand by her both emotionally and in practical terms to breastfeed exclusively.”

He added that the role of the family and health facility workers in supporting the woman to breastfeed exclusively is vital. The health facility workers can reassure the woman that she has made the best choice by breastfeeding her baby exclusively.

In addition to other nutrients necessary for the child’s mental and physical development, breast milk provides a sufficient amount of water, as the infant may demand throughout the first six months of life. Additionally, it aids in combating stunting, which has a detrimental effect on a child’s cognitive development.

However, he declared that infants getting the full benefits of breast milk require a collective fight against the misconceptions and the myths that discourage women from breastfeeding exclusively.

“The training, encouragement, and health talks at the health facility provide both the psychological support and the physical assistance required to effectively breastfeed, which can be passed on to the women who deliver at health facilities,” he said.

In addition to establishing crèches or a suitable breastfeeding area or space where a mother may take time off to go and breastfeed her child within businesses and institutions, Mr Okorie argued that all states in Nigeria should implement fully compensated six-month maternity leave.

He added, “This is in the best interest of the child as well as the mother. There should be a place that is suitable for breastfeeding or for the woman to bring her infant to work and then occasionally have the chance to breastfeed the infant, if necessary, even when she must return to work.”

Professor Iyabo Runsewe-Abiodun, a consultant paediatrician at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu, declared that any mother who can successfully breastfeed exclusively needs help.

“More than 99 per cent of our mothers breastfeed, but very few of them give only breast milk without adding any other thing in the first six months of life. Therefore, they require assistance from a variety of sources, including the environment, hospitals, the community, the household, and governmental and non-governmental groups, according to Professor Runsewe-Abiodun.

According to her, studies have shown that one of the greatest limitations to inclusive breastfeeding is a lack of support from husbands.

She declared that husbands must be supportive of their wives by accepting that infants need breast milk and relieving anything that can cause them stress or pain, as this may affect the woman’s breast milk production.

 Stress or pain can hinder the release of prolactin, the hormone that is responsible for breast milk production.

 “Once breast milk production is limited, the infant becomes frustrated and stops breastfeeding. But the greatest stimulus to breast milk production is the emptying of that breast milk,” Professor Runsewe-Abiodun stated.

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In addition, when everybody is properly informed, it should be out of fashion not to breastfeed. And the work environment would be made conducive for breastfeeding mothers to be able to breastfeed exclusively.

Health workers are banned from accepting products from breastfeeding substitutes or advertising directly or indirectly from breastfeeding substitution production companies.

However, she said this ban should be extended to social media influencers to prevent them from influencing mothers to use breastfeeding substitutes.

In order to raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding, Professor Runsewe-Abiodun urged the government to pass legislation requiring both public and private institutions to have a functional crèche. She also called for more non-governmental organisations to collaborate with government agencies.