Promoting Exclusive Breastfeeding

Annually, World Breastfeeding Week is marked from August 1 to 7. This year, Ada Ezeogu, a nutrition specialist with the United Nations Children’s Funds, while emphasising on the countless benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, harped on how it protects women from cancer, boosts intelligence quotient in babies, and saves the resources of the nation, among others. Rebecca Ejifoma writes

World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is a global campaign observed every year from August 1 to 7 to raise awareness and galvanise action on themes related to breastfeeding. Every year, pregnant women and nursing mothers are reminded of the numerous health benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, which not only helps the mother and the child, but also saves the nation a great deal of resources.

This year, the World Breastfeeding Week harps on its theme ‘Protect Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility’ to promote both exclusive breastfeeding.

What Breastfeeding is

Speaking with THISDAY, Nutrition Specialist United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Nigeria, Mrs Ada Ezeogu, described breastfeeding as the best way of providing a child with breast milk. “Breastfeeding is when you feed your baby breast milk, usually directly from your breast or express it then feeds it to the baby. However, we always advise mothers to let the child suckle directly from them to achieve the full benefits and interaction between mothers child.”

She further hinted that breast milk has a nearly perfect mix of vitamins, protein, and fat — everything your baby needs to grow. And it’s all provided in a form more easily digested than infant formula.

Breastfeeding Protects Mothers from Cancer

In the words of the nutritionist, breastfeeding protects a woman’s health. “It protects her from cancer of the womb. It also protects mothers from breast and ovarian cancers and heart disease.

“It creates a strong bond between mother and child”. The expert mentioned that breastfeeding also burns extra calories, thereby, losing pregnancy weight faster. “It releases the hormone oxytocin, which helps your uterus return to its pre-pregnancy size and may reduce uterine bleeding after birth. Breastfeeding also lowers your risk of breast and ovarian cancers, reduces your bleeding, and helps eject the placenta. It may lower your risk of osteoporosis, too.”

Moreso, Ezeogu highlighted how exclusive breastfeeding builds the relationship between mother and child. “It supports the mother-baby relationship and the mental health of both baby and mother.”

A study published in The Lancet in 2016 found that increasing breastfeeding rates around the world to near universal levels could prevent 823,000 annual deaths in children younger than five years and 20,000 annual maternal deaths from breast cancer.

Breastfeeding Boosts IQ, Prevents Obesity, Infections in Babies

According to the nutritionist, breastfeeding helps the baby’s brain develop better, adding that it is the best way of providing a child with breast milk. “It protects children from a vast range of illnesses including infection, diabetes, asthma, heart disease and obesity, as well as cot death (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

“Breast milk provides the ideal nutrition for infants, lowers the risk of obesity, and diabetes when they grow. It also boosts a child’s immunity so that the baby resists a lot of infections, especially colostrum (the thick yellowish milk that comes out first when the baby is born). Breastfed infants are more likely to gain the right amount of weight as they grow rather than become overweight children, and this reduces frequent visits to the hospital.”

Truly, breastfeeding has been linked to higher IQ scores in later childhood in some studies and better equips the child in adulthood, Ezeogu noted. She listed physical closeness, skin-to-skin touching, and eye contact, which all help the baby bond with you and feel secure.

She also acknowledged that breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival. Sadly, she lamented that nearly two out of three infants are not exclusively breastfed for the recommended six months—a rate that has not improved in two decades.

“For Nigeria to really achieve the benefits of breastfeeding, we have to attain 90 per cent away from the 27 per cent we are currently at. The world has placed a target of a minimum of 50 per cent. Hence, to achieve the full benefits, the majority of the population needs to practice exclusive breastfeeding every year.”

Breastfeeding Saves National Resources, Improves Workforce

Indeed, the benefits of breastfeeding are said to save cost and improve the national workforce. The nutritionist emphasised: “Apart from improving the workforce of a nation, it also reduces the medical cost for the nation. When children are exclusively breastfed they are protected to a large extent from non-communicable diseases like diabetes, obesity, thereby the cost to the government to run the hospital and maintain these illnesses is reduced.”

Speaking on infant formula and its cost of production, the UNICEF expert expressed that the resources that go into producing infant formula are also saved for the nation. “You don’t only get to save the resources, but you make the nation produce intelligent children who are able to compete with their peers in the world,” reminding mothers that the world is a fast moving place.

Promoting Breastfeeding in Adolescent Mothers

While emphasising the importance of breastfeeding, Ezeogu recommended that adolescent mothers need extra care, more food, and rest than older mothers.

She urged: “You need to nourish your own body, which is still growing, as well as your growing baby’s. During breastfeeding, you need to eat two extra small meals or ‘snacks’ (extra food between meals) each day to provide energy and nutrients for you and your growing baby. Pregnant adolescents need extra support. They need extra care, more food, and more rest than an older mother.”

Dangers of Mixed Feeding During the First Six Months

Mixed feeding, she pointed out, means feeding your baby both breast milk and any other foods or liquids including infant formula, animal milks or water before six months. “This is dangerous and can make baby sick.”

She warned against mixed feeding before six months, describing it as dangerous and able to make babies sick. “Mixed feeding increases the chances that your baby will suffer from illnesses such as diarrhoea and pneumonia, and from malnutrition which can also cause death of young children.

“Giving your baby foods or any kind of liquids other than breastmilk, including infant formula, animal milks, or water before six months can damage your baby’s stomach. This reduces the protection that exclusive breastfeeding gives, and all of the benefits that your baby gets from your breastmilk.”

Statistics

As shown by UNICEF, in Nigeria, where one in eight children do not reach their fifth birthday and three in 10 children are stunted, hence, Ezeogu supports the recommendation that optimal breastfeeding practices are known to reduce neonatal and child morbidities and mortality rates as well as stunting reduction.

“Optimal nutrition,” she continued “provided by breastfeeding along with nurturing, care, and stimulation strengthens a child’s brain development with positive impacts that endure over a lifetime.”

She cited available statistics in Nigeria revealing that the average duration of exclusive breastfeeding is approximately three months and only three out of every 10 children under six months of age were exclusively breastfed (29 per cent). “This is an improvement from 17 per cent in 2013 to 29 per cent in 2018 according to the Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS 2013; 2018”

However, she noted that it still falls significantly below the target of 50 per cent set by the World Health Assembly to be achieved in 2025 and the SDG target for 2030.

And while the percentage of children who were breastfed within one hour of birth remains less than 50 per cent, the expert calls on all mothers, fathers, and the nation to support and encourage exclusive breastfeeding across the country.