Exclusive breastfeeding promotes child health
Health experts say breastfeeding is a necessary investment in a baby’s future. It allows the mother to provide her baby with the food that is perfect for the baby, as the milk enables the baby to stay healthy.
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Some of the benefits of breastfeeding are that it protects babies from infections and diseases; is good for the health of the mother as it reduces her risk of cancer and some other diseases; and helps to check the mother’s weight.
It is economical because most breastfeeding mothers do not need a special diet, but only need to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly.
Mothers are advised to drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated. A common suggestion is to drink a glass of water or beverage every time you breastfeed.
However, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has expressed worry over the declining rate of exclusive breastfeeding, despite its potential to reduce neonatal mortality significantly, write Doreen Andoh & Yaa Ntriwaa Adjei.
GHS study
A research conducted by the GHS this year established that the exclusive breastfeeding rate has dropped drastically from 63.7 per cent in 2008 to 43 per cent currently.
Briefing the media at the launch of the World Breastfeeding Day in Accra last Wednesday, the National Child Health Co-ordinator of the GHS, Dr Sagoe Moses, said the situation was fairly due to public misconceptions about exclusive breastfeeding and the lack of mother-friendly workplaces to facilitate exclusive breastfeeding campaign.
Initiating breastfeeding within 30 minutes after delivery and exclusive breastfeeding has been identified by health experts as a single most effective way of preventing neonatal and maternal mortality.
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Dr Moses explained that the colostrums, the initial breast milk the breast secrets, contain exclusive antibodies that protect the newborn against infections.
Most common infections
“Most common infectious diseases killing newborns include diarrhoea, pneumonia and cord infections,” she added.
She said the introduction of baby formula could only be an option when there was obviously no means of getting breast milk for the baby, “for instance, when the mother has died or in very rare cases when the nipples have no perforation”.
According to her, studies have established that all mothers, irrespective of breast size, can produce enough breast milk for at least two babies.
Experiences of working mothers
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho reports that Ms Salomey Asamaniwaa, a working mother, had a bitter experience when after three months of exclusive breastfeeding, she had to go back to work and, therefore, decided to give her baby infant formula.
It was an experience that she says she remembers up to today as her baby reacted to the milk badly.
She did not know that her baby was lactose-intolerant and had to learn it the hard way.
Her baby was admitted to hospital for two weeks. Her woes were aggravated when a doctor on duty chastised her saying “you are a dirty women”.
In the case of Ms Audrey Dakalu, a journalists with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), her baby refused to take the milk after two months.
“I did the exclusive breastfeeding for the first two months and to my surprise, my baby rejected the breast whenever I put it in her mouth.
“When I reported it at the antenatal clinic, they said I should try harder.
“I did all I could, with the help of my mother but my baby cried uncontrollably whenever I put her to my breast.
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“I was advised to express the milk for her and this worked for just about two weeks. After that, she would not have anything to do with the expressed milk.
“I then had to start feeding her with supplementary foods which she took. Her best food at four months was soup and I always cooked the soup with potatoes and she enjoyed it very well.
“However, I am happy that I never experienced any complications with her feeding as I ensured that I kept her bottles well sterilised,” she said.
For Ms Nana Akua Dwumah, a nursing mother with Nestle Ghana, she had to stop breastfeeding her baby because she was not producing enough breast milk.
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Much as she tried, she could not produce the milk and she had to add other foods.
“I was made to eat a lot of things, including boiled corn and mashed kenkey, which are all believed to help in the production of enough milk but nothing came out when my baby sucked the breast.
I believe in breastfeeding and I know the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding. That is why I forced myself to ensure that at least I do it for the first one month before giving supplementary foods.
“I am fortunate none of them experienced any allergies or complications as they were growing,” she said.
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