The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, is advocating for breastfeeding mothers to have six months of compulsory maternity leave, to enable them to practice exclusive breastfeeding for children between ages 0 to 6.
The UNICEF Nutrition Manager, Kano Field Office, Elhadji Diop, who appealed to the Katsina State government during the launch of the year 2022 Breastfeeding Week, says a result of the recent report by the Multi-Indicator Cluster Survey, MICS stated that only two out of ten newborns in Katsina are exclusively breastfed.
Before now, mothers in Katsina State were enjoying between 3 to 4 months of maternity leave, to enable them to care for their newborns development.
UNICEF Nutrition Manager Elhadji Diop says when done, it will increase the effective and efficient practice of exclusive breastfeeding with emphasis on zero water for children between the ages of 0 to 6 months.
According to him, UNICEF is partnering with the Katsina State Government, to ensure the practice of early initiation of breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth, to make sure the baby receives colostrum feeding, exclusive breastfeeding for six months; no water or any fluids, formula or food till the baby reaches six months of age, and extended breastfeeding for up to 2 years, with appropriate complementary feeding from 6 months.
Diop added that to achieve the above, legislation should be made to increase the maternity leave of mothers to 6 months in the public sector, as well as provisions for breastfeeding mothers in the private sector.
The Executive Secretary of the Katsina State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Shamsudeen Yahaya, represented by Dr Nafisat Sani, explained that the agency has been sensitizing mothers on the benefits of breastfeeding, especially since babies between the ages of 0 to 6 months do not need water, even in a hot climate.
On his part, the District Head of Mashi and the Iyan Katsina, Kabir Ibrahim, pledged his domain’s readiness to drive the campaign but called for the need to have a breast milk bank, just as it is done with blood, to assist mothers and children in dire need.
Flagging off the campaign, the wife of Katsina State governor, Zakiyya Masari, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry Of Lands And Survey, Halima Othman, warned mothers to stop harmful practices, detrimental to the health of children.
She listed some of the practices to include, prenatal feeds, pouring away the first milk, giving cow milk when they can breastfeed, giving traditional concoctions, bottled and mixed feeding in the first six months, and applying traditional herbs to breast milk, as breast cleansing agents, as well as maternal deprivation.
This year’s World Breastfeeding Week Campaign For Stronger Breast Milk, has as its theme, “Step up for Breastfeeding: Educate and support.
Editor: Hadiza.A.A
