Chioma Umeha
One can easily tell the source of happiness of
Igbe Assumpta, a 26-year-old mother seeing her bond with her baby as she
cuddled him. he Enugu state-born nursing mother and student believes that
exclusive breastfeeding provides every nutritional value her child needs for
proper growth.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) explains, “Exclusive
breastfeeding means that the infant receives only breast milk. No other liquids
or solids are given – not even water – with the exception of oral rehydration
solution, or drops/syrups of vitamins, minerals or medicines.”
In an interview with INDEPENDENT, Assumpta said, “Exclusive
breastfeeding boosts my baby’s intelligent quotient, as she is very sharp. Even
my friends who are not doing exclusive breastfeeding used to tell me that my
baby is very sharp. My baby is strong and healthy.
“Since I gave birth to her, I haven’t taken her to the hospital.
It saves me money. My baby is five months and two weeks and I will complete the
six months exercise. I will still practise it for my next baby. I also advise
other women to go for exclusive breastfeeding.”
To achieve optimal growth, development and health, WHO recommends
that infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life.
Thereafter, to meet their evolving nutritional requirements, infants should
receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods, while continuing
to breastfeed for up to two years or beyond.
Chinedu Chukwuma, also from Agwu in Enugu State, told the same
success story like Assumpta. The
healthy look of her two children tells it all. You could also see the bond
between Chinedu and her three-month-old baby, Ebelechukwu, as she cuddles her,
all thanks to exclusive breastfeeding. The practice is not new to her. The
20-year-old mother who is indulging in the exercise the second time, outlined
the benefits.
Chinedu told INDEPENDENT during an investigative visit to Enugu
that she came to know about exclusive breastfeeding while attending antenatal
classes for her first baby. “We were told that it is a very good practice. I
did it for my first baby for six months. So I did not need any persuasion to
adopt it for Eberechukwu, my second child; I am doing it for him.
“My babies are hardly sick. Apart from immunisation, I had no
reason to be shuttling between hospital and home unlike some mothers,” she
said.
The Federal Government integrated education on exclusive
breastfeeding into the antenatal programmes at the Primary Health Care(PHC)
Centres for nursing mothers to be taught about its benefit.
Only recently Federal Government pledged its commitment towards
supporting breastfeeding and improving funding to scale-up nutrition and
breastfeeding practices across the country.
Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, wife of the President, disclosed this
in Abuja, during the last year’s launch of Lancet Series on Breastfeeding and
High – level Policy Dialogue on Promoting Breastfeeding for National
Development in Nigeria.
Ngozi Onuora, a Nutritionist at UNICEF at the Port Harcourt office
of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Nigeria, addressing journalists
recently at a media training on child nutrition, stressed that exclusive
breastfeeding reduces infant mortality.
This is due to the protection it gives the baby against common
childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea or pneumonia, and helps for quicker
recovery during illness, Onuora explained.
She said: “Good nutrition is the bedrock of child survival, health
and development. According to her, well-nourished children are better able to
grow, learn, participate in and contribute to their communities. It also makes
them resilient in the face of disease, disaster and other crisis.”
As for Celestina Nwankwo, a 35-year-old farmer and mother of six
children, one can see the difference between her children who were exclusively
breastfed and those who were not.
She told INDEPENDENT, “I have done it for two of my children and I
saw the difference. They don’t fall ill often; they do not go to toilet anyhow.
My advice to mothers is that they should try and adopt exclusive breastfeeding
because it is very good.
“I did not do exclusive breastfeeding for all my children. There
is a big difference between those who benefitted from it and others who did
not. The ones that were exclusively breastfed are very intelligent and are
closer to me,” Celestina said. The 35-year-old farmer said she was taught about
the exercise in the Health Centre during antenatal.
Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu of the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja,
while corroborating earlier views, told journalists during a two-day Media
Dialogue on Leveraging Resources for Child Malnutrition in Nigeria that
exclusive breastfeeding for six months prevents childhood illnesses like
diarrhoea, infection
He said that exclusive breastfeeding prevents childhood obesity
and the associated non- communicable diseases in adulthood, adding that the
mother only needs to be adequately fed on normal family diet.
Isokpunwu revealed that “it is cheaper when compared to what is
spent on baby formula, hospital bills, energy cost of boiling water and
sterilisation of bottles, cups and spoons, and above all, the consequences of
non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases
later in life.”
With Nigeria currently recording a huge number of malnourished
children, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) might just be affected years from
now as malnutrition accounts for low Intelligent Quotient (IQ) of an
individual.
The basic drivers of child malnutrition are poverty, failure in
governance, institutional weaknesses, gender issues; the underlying causes are
food insecurity, inadequate care, access to health care services, while the
immediate causes of malnutrition are; inappropriate food intake and diseases.
To curb the ugly menace – child malnutrition, the world health
body recommends exclusive breastfeeding of infants for six. The United Nations
(UN) body noting that breast milk contains all the nutritional value a child
needs for proper growth, further recommends continuous breastfeeding and
adequate complementary foods until 24 months.
