By Justina Auta

The Federal Government has scaled up advocacies to increase exclusive breastfeeding practices to promote nutrition for children and mothers.

Mr Uruakpa John, Director, Micro Nutrients Deficiency Control (MNDC), Federal Ministry of Health, disclosed this on Friday during a sensitisation walk in commemoration of the 2023 World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) in Abuja.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Enabling Breastfeeding: Making a difference for Working Parents.”

John said the walk was part of activities to scale-up advocacies for exclusive breastfeeding, especially in the first hour of birth to six months, before introducing complementary feeding.

“You must exclusively breastfeed your child for the first six months the immunity of that child is built against any ailments. And this will equip the child nutritionally to grow properly,” he said.

Miss Princes Usung, Lead Midwife, Wellbeing Foundation Africa, an NGO, said the sensitisation exercise was to educate the public on the nutritional value of breastfeeding.

“It is advisable that policy makers and employers set aside breastfeeding cubicle for nursing mothers so that during the working hours they can take some time off to breastfeed their babies.

“The importance of breastfeeding is that it makes the baby healthy and it is easily digestible and provides nutritional values for the babies development and growth.

“The men should also be given more time to support breastfeeding because it goes hand in hand because collaborative support will foster optimum breastfeeding,” she said.

NAN reports that various partners, NGOs and Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) participated in the walk to create more awareness on the importance of breastfeeding. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Vincent Obi

By Rukayat Adeyemi

Dr Chinny Obinwanne, founder, Milk booster and Milkbank Nigeria, has advised mothers lactating poorly and working-class nursing mothers unable to breastfeed their babies to embrace the pasteurised donor human milk.
Obinwanne said that this was most suitable for babies rather than supplementing the breast milk with formula.
The MilkBank boss, also a lactation consultant, said this at a news conference on Thursday in Lagos, in commemoration of the 2023 World Breastfeeding Week (WBW).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme for 2023 World Breastfeeding Week is “Let’s make breastfeeding and work, work”.
This year’s campaign focuses on promoting practices that can help support workplace-related breastfeeding in different countries across the world.
“In a situation, where nursing mothers are unable to produce enough milk for their babies or unavailable to breastfeed them, rather than them supplementing their breast milk with formula, they can do that with pasteurised donor human milk,” the consultant said.
According to her, the World Health Organisation(WHO) has stated that the pasteurised donor human milk is the best option when babies do not have access to their own mother’s milk.
Obinwanne emphasised that breastfeeding was important to the overall health and wellness of both babies and mothers.
She said breast milk reduces the risk of many illnesses and diseases in a newborn, such as respiratory issues like pneumonia, gastrointestinal issues like vomiting and diarrhea.
According to her, breastmilk also reduce the risk of allergy, eczema, asthma, and atopic dermatitis.
Obinwanne said: “Breast milk provides the perfect nutrition that contains everything a baby needs for the first six months of life.
“For a newborn, the first milk called colostrum, which is loaded with antibodies and coats the lining of the gut, prevents the passage of bacteria and viruses into the body system of the baby.
“The breast milk keeps babies alive by lowering the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) in premature babies.
“Breast milk provides a lot of immediate and long-term benefits that follow the baby as they grow to become toddlers, teenagers, and a grown adult.
According to the lactation consultant, breastfeeding helps a mother to lose weight, because it takes a huge amount of calories to manufacture breast milk.
Obinwanne explained that the more breast milk a mother’s body produces, the more calories it will consume from her body fat storage to make it.
She noted that as long as a nursing mother is eating the right nutrient-dense meals, she will notice a weight loss.
On the challenges of running a milk bank in Nigeria, Obinwanne listed lack of funding and awareness as the major challenges militating the milk bank to thrive.
She noted that without any external funding, the milk booster has been funding the cost implication of running the milk bank.
The consultatant listed the running expenses to include : staff payment, blood screening of each donor mum, the numerous pre-pasteurisation and post-pasteurisation milk screening and overall running of the facility.
“For example, we have gotten 20 recipients requests for human milk, after we engaged them and do the paperwork, eight majority of them do not proceed to the final steps of receiving the milk.
“The milk bank is hoping to fill the gap of awareness and knowledge by partnering with bodies and organisations that represent different arms of healthcare to increase awareness of the need for milk banks in our community,” she said.
Obinwanne called for continuous sensitisation of the public both online and offline on pasteurised donor milk.
She also charged working-class nursing mothers to start preparing early from the first two weeks after delivery on how to breastfeed and store the milk for their baby. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Olawunmi Ashafa

By Justina Auta

The Nigerian Governors’ Wives Forum (NGWF) and other stakeholders on Tuesday called for the implementation of six months maternity leave policy to facilitate exclusive breastfeeding of infants in the country.

Dr Olufolake Abdulrazak, wife of the Kwara state governor, representing the NGWF, stated this during the launch and press briefing ceremony in commemoration of the 2023 World Breastfeeding Week organised by the Federal Ministry of Health and other partners in Abuja.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Enabling Breastfeeding: Making a difference for Working Parents.’’

Mrs Abdulrazak said the forum will partner with others to champion the advocacy, which will improve the health and wellbeing of the mother and child, as well as eliminate malnutrition in the country, thereby reducing child’s mortality rates.

She noted the challenges mothers face in navigating their work schedule and providing the best care for their children, stressing the need for implementation of policies that will ensure babies were exclusively breastfed for the first six months and complementary fed to at least two years.

“Breastfeeding plays an integral in the healthy development of infants and we must all come together to create an enabling environment that support and encourages this natural practice.

“In the NGWF, we are wholeheartedly dedicated to championing the cause of breastfeeding and improving the lives of women and children across our nation.

“We are proud to announce that we have taken a significant step forward by signing a statement of commitment to provide support through effective advocacies for improved nutrition in the country.’’

While advocating for realistic budgeting, timely release of funds for nutrition, she said the NWGF was committed towards creating awareness on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, establishment of creches in workspaces and advocating for six months paid maternity leave.

On issue of prevalence of malaria, she disclosed that Kwara state went down to 20 per cent, which was lower than the 26 per cent at the national average level.

Dr Nemat Hajeebhoy, UNICEF’s Chief Nutrition Officer, said a child’s development is not completed at birth, but rather breastmilk facilitates the completion of the development, especially the brain.

Hajeebhoy, added that the Convention on the Child Rights, stipulates their rights to access to adequate nutrition, which begins at birth within the first hour of breastfeeding, which was essential as the first immunisation.

“It is the act of breastfeeding and the breast milk that enables the growth for babies. The child’s development is not completed at birth, it is the breastmilk that helps the completion especially in and brain development.

“So enabling mothers and babies to be together once the child is born is no longer in her womb is each of our responsibility,’’ she said.

She, explained that Nigeria had over 18 million employed women, but only nine per cent of the organisations offer breastfeeding support, hence the need for employers to implement policies that would promote breastfeeding.

“We are asking employers to offer six months maternity leave, set up safe spaces in the offices so that a mother can go and breastfeed her child and offer some flexible working arrangement.”

Also, Dr Walter Mulombo, Country Representative, World Health Organisation (WHO) said the 2023 WBW theme aim to raise awareness and galvanize action that enable breastfeeding in the workspace.

“Enabling breastfeeding and supporting working parents is crucial for promoting optimum breastfeeding practices and ensuring the health and wellbeing for both infants and mothers.

“Support for breastfeeding increases women’s work motivation, attendance, satisfaction and productivity.

“It also provides vital health and nutritional benefits for children with positive lifelong impacts. Women shouldn’t be left to choose between breastfeeding their children and their jobs,” he said.

Dr Osita Okonkwo, Country Director, Nutrition International, said the organisation with supports from partners in 2022 distributed over 20 million vitamin A across to states and has earmarked over 22 million to improve nutrition and reduce prevalence of child and maternal mortality.

Mr Adebiyi Folorunsho, Permanent Secretary, FMoH, while highlighting the benefits of breastfeeding, said only nine per cent of organisations in the country have workplace breastfeeding policy.

Folurunsho, represented by Mrs Boladale Alonge, Director in the ministry said breastfeeding provides energy, nutrients for child’s development and prevents the burden of malnutrition infectious diseases and mortality, while also reducing the risk of obesity and chronic diseases in later life.

He added that breastfeeding mothers are also protected them from chronic diseases including breast and ovarian cancer, Type 2 diabetes, as well as increase productivity at the workplace and saves monetary expenses.

“Evidence has shown that women need adequate time and support to practice optimal breastfeeding. Lack of support in the workplace is one of the reasons, why women stop breastfeeding early,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that representatives from the Federal Ministries of Women Affairs, Labour and Employment, Humanitarian Services, Disaster Management and Social Development, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), as well as other stakeholders were present at the event.

NAN reports that UNICEF said seven out of 36 states provide six months of fully paid maternity leave while only 34 per cent of children aged zero to six months are exclusively breastfed as recommended. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Ikenna Osuoha

Sen. Ikechukwu Abana, Chairman, Lifebridge Diagnostic Medical Centre, Abuja said on Sunday that he would continue to use the facility to impact positively on the lives of Nigerians.

Abana said this in Abuja at the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the medical centre, which he described as divine.

“I believe that my investment in Lifebridge is divine. And we have impacted positively on many lives.

“It gives me joy that I have created opportunity for people to earn their living”, he said.

He expressed gratitude to God for the success so far recorded by the diagnostic centre since inception.

He vowed to continue to impact positively on many lives in the area of health and wealth empowerment.

Dr Godwin Tawe, Medical Director of the centre, affirmed its commitment to achieving a globally acceptable result.

Tawe said the diagnostic center had experts on radiography which gives it an edge over others, adding that “we have achieved much in the area of setting standards that are above human imagination’’.

Earlier, Mr Nkem Okeke, a former deputy governor of Anambra, described the Abana as a man with large heart and love for humanity.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the highlight of the celebration was conferment of awards to men and women with excellent track records in their professions. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Uche Anunne