By Steven O. Mukoro
A recent joint statement by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell read thus:
“Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure a baby’s health, development, and survival in the earliest stages of life. It acts as their first vaccine, providing protection against diseases including diarrhoea and pneumonia.
“Investing in breastfeeding is an investment in the future, yet only 48 per cent of infants under six months are exclusively breastfed – well below the World Health Assembly target of 60 per cent by 2030. This is due to the overlapping challenges for new mothers, health workers, and health systems.
“Millions of mothers around the world do not receive timely and skilled support in a healthcare setting, when they need it most.
“Only a fifth of countries include infant and young child feeding training for the doctors and nurses who care for new mothers. This means the majority of the world’s mothers leave hospitals without proper guidance on how to breastfeed their babies and when to introduce complementary feeding.
“In many countries, health systems are too often under-resourced, fragmented, or poorly equipped to deliver quality, consistent, evidence-based breastfeeding support.
“Investment in breastfeeding support remains critically low even though every dollar invested generates US$35 in economic returns.
“As we mark World Breastfeeding Week under the theme, “Prioritise breastfeeding: Create sustainable support systems”.
Under the theme for this year’s celebration: “Prioritise Breastfeeding: Create Sustainable Support Systems”, the event emphasises the importance of exclusive breastfeeding and how it can reduce the risk of malnutrition and diseases later in life. It also seeks to create awareness about donor milk and advocating for more mothers to participate in this lifesaving programme.
The essence of the events prescribes that together we can make a significant impact on Maternal and Infants well-being. Experts emphasise the importance of putting baby straight to the breast immediately after birth so that the baby can benefit from the first product – colostrum, the milky fluid secreted for the first day or two after parturition.
English