From Victor Nwegede, Abakaliki.
The United States Agency for the International Development - Integrated Health Program, USAID-IHP in collaboration with the implementing partners has taken to the streets in Abakaliki town, for an awareness campaign on breastfeeding as part of their activities to commemorate the World Breastfeeding Week, WBW in Ebonyi State.
The Coordinator of the Ebonyi State Baby Breastfeeding Health Initiative, Mrs Beatrice Ngozi Oji-Nkama made this known in an interview with journalists at Pa Ngele Oruta Township Stadium Abakaliki during awareness creation for the week's program.
She said that USAID-IHP with the Breakthrough Action Nigeria, Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Helen Keller International, AMURT, Feed the Future, World Health Organisation, Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology and other facilitating partners support the State Ministry of Health (SMOH) and State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA) to commemorate the week
She said: "Today is for awareness creation for World Breastfeeding Day, to educate the public to prepare our mothers, for the initiative of breastfeeding."
The State Breastfeeding Health Initiative Coordinator clarified that breastfeeding for long will not affect a baby as some people had alleged.
She said the event anchored on stepping up for breastfeeding, was to educate the general public, on the need to prepare breastfeeding mothers for adequate breastfeeding in considering its health benefits.
Mrs Oji-Nkama called for an unconditional preparation for the mothers to breastfeed their children immediately after delivering.
According to her, the initiation of breastfeeding for the newborn baby must be within one hour of delivery and then the health workers should help women exclusively breastfeed their babies for six months.
She urged the health workers to always help breastfeeding mothers and their children to know the way to position while breastfeeding.
She said that "when a baby is crying and remains restless you know, you can breastfeed the baby," adding that the health workers should help to support them to prepare, initiate and breastfeed the baby.
She maintained that "the woman should breastfeed her baby exclusively from one hour of delivery. In the seventh month, the woman will initiate supplementary feeding, because the breast milk is no longer enough, to breastfeed. With that supplementary feeding, the woman will continue breastfeeding for two years."
She expressed the readiness of her office to swing into action to educate the women and the general public on the importance of breastfeeding with the best practices to be adopted in the week's program.
