Research has shown that breastfeeding can help protect babies against some short and long-term illnesses and diseases, and even prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). According to UNICEF, breastfed children have at least 6 times greater chance of survival in the early months than non-breastfed children and an exclusively breastfed child is 14 times less likely to die in the first six months than a non-breastfed child.
UNICEF data further showed that an estimated 13% of child deaths could be averted if 90% of mothers exclusively breastfed their infants for the first six months of life, and delaying breastfeeding by 2-23 hours after birth increases the risk of a baby dying in the first 28 days of a baby’s life by 40 per cent.
It is against this backdrop, that some Bauchi and Taraba women are clamouring for support from government and leaders across the States to provide laws that will enable women in the formal sector to exclusively breastfed their babies without fear of discrimination or abuse.
They decried the lack of support they get from colleagues and superiors in their quest to exclusively breastfeed for six months. They also lamented the lack of privacy due to unavailability of safe spaces in their places of work and schools to enable them breastfeed their infants.
A graduate of Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Fa’uza Abdullahi told Vanguard how she couldn’t exclusively breastfeed her baby because her coursemates constantly complained that her baby girl was a distraction to her studies.
She said that even though she had vowed to exclusively breastfeed the baby for six months, she fell short and gave her child water by the fifth month because she couldn’t get to the baby on time after an assessment test in school.
“I was lucky to learn about the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, but unfortunately, I couldn’t do it for six months. My baby is eight months old now. I had planned to exclusively breastfeed her for six months but by the fifth month, I had a long and difficult day at school, so I couldn’t get to her on time. When her nanny called and told me she had been crying, I knew I had to break my promise because by that time, the baby was so hungry.
“So the nanny gave her water on that day, and that’s how I wasn’t able to exclusively breastfeed for six months as I had earlier resolved to do. By the way, my coursemates tried to discourage me to bring my baby to school but I didn’t pay attention to them. I hear that the State government now wants to increase maternity leave to six months and enforce the provision of creches for breastfeeding mothers in formal settings.
“It is a good initiative and I am happy for it will do for our mothers if the proposal is passed into law. On a large scale, I think it should be scaled to every State in the country because it will help to reduce stress for mothers and encourage women to pursue their dreams irrespective of where they are,” the young mother said.
A lactating mother and nurse at Nasarawa ‘B’ Primary Healthcare Centre, Azare, Adama Mohammed has called for the establishment of creches for working mothers, saying that creches would allow all lactating mothers who are also working to have privacy to breastfeed their babies.
Vanguardngr.com
Why We Can’t Breastfeed Our Babies, Bauchi, Taraba Women Lament
Research has shown that breastfeeding can help protect babies against some short and long-term illnesses and diseases, and even prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). According to UNICEF, breastfed children have at least 6 times greater chance of survival in the early months than non-breastfed children and an exclusively breastfed child is 14 times less likely to die in the first six months than a non-breastfed child.
UNICEF data further showed that an estimated 13% of child deaths could be averted if 90% of mothers exclusively breastfed their infants for the first six months of life, and delaying breastfeeding by 2-23 hours after birth increases the risk of a baby dying in the first 28 days of a baby’s life by 40 per cent.
It is against this backdrop, that some Bauchi and Taraba women are clamouring for support from government and leaders across the States to provide laws that will enable women in the formal sector to exclusively breastfed their babies without fear of discrimination or abuse.
They decried the lack of support they get from colleagues and superiors in their quest to exclusively breastfeed for six months. They also lamented the lack of privacy due to unavailability of safe spaces in their places of work and schools to enable them breastfeed their infants.
A graduate of Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Fa’uza Abdullahi told Vanguard how she couldn’t exclusively breastfeed her baby because her coursemates constantly complained that her baby girl was a distraction to her studies.
She said that even though she had vowed to exclusively breastfeed the baby for six months, she fell short and gave her child water by the fifth month because she couldn’t get to the baby on time after an assessment test in school.
“I was lucky to learn about the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, but unfortunately, I couldn’t do it for six months. My baby is eight months old now. I had planned to exclusively breastfeed her for six months but by the fifth month, I had a long and difficult day at school, so I couldn’t get to her on time. When her nanny called and told me she had been crying, I knew I had to break my promise because by that time, the baby was so hungry.
“So the nanny gave her water on that day, and that’s how I wasn’t able to exclusively breastfeed for six months as I had earlier resolved to do. By the way, my coursemates tried to discourage me to bring my baby to school but I didn’t pay attention to them. I hear that the State government now wants to increase maternity leave to six months and enforce the provision of creches for breastfeeding mothers in formal settings.
“It is a good initiative and I am happy for it will do for our mothers if the proposal is passed into law. On a large scale, I think it should be scaled to every State in the country because it will help to reduce stress for mothers and encourage women to pursue their dreams irrespective of where they are,” the young mother said.
A lactating mother and nurse at Nasarawa ‘B’ Primary Healthcare Centre, Azare, Adama Mohammed has called for the establishment of creches for working mothers, saying that creches would allow all lactating mothers who are also working to have privacy to breastfeed their babies.
Vanguardngr.com