A cross section of breastfeeding mothers
Health experts have warned women in Cross River state against the use of formulas and other harmful practices in feeding their infants just as breastfeeding mothers have called on government to give them special palliative to boost exclusive breastfeeding.
They also advised nursing mothers against the use of palm wine to stimulate milk flow as some people could get intoxicated and it’s not good for the babies.
Speaking at weekend during a sensitization meeting with nursing mothers on World Breastfeeding Week (WBW), “Zero Water Campaign” with the theme; Enabling Breastfeeding: Making a Difference for Working Parents, one of the experts, the Ward Vocal Person, Primary Healthcare Centre, (PHC), Henshaw Town in Calabar South Local Government of the State, Evelyn Ekpenyong, said “breastfeeding and at the same time feeding babies with formula just because mothers feel the breast milk is not enough for the baby is an impression we need to correct”.
Ekpenyong charged care givers to educate nursing mothers and dissuade them from negative impression on exclusive breastfeeding as she disagreed with some mothers that their babies can’t get enough from breastfeeding alone,, noting however that “the major challenge was that most women don’t feed well”.
“In my facility”, she said, “we have days that we fix for pregnant women and it is that section that we will intensify the need for them to do Zero Water for six months and the need for them to feed well so that they can produce more breast milk for their babies.
“During my days of breastfeeding, I used pap (ogi), then,white rice and pepper soup, it helps a lot to produce breast milk, it must not be palm wine like what some people believe because some people could get intoxicated and it’s not good for the baby”.
One of the challenges faced by nursing mothers according to Ekpenyong “is that some say that things are hard that they don’t eat well that is why they can’t do exclusive breastfeeding, so government needs to do something, maybe in terms of palliative”.
She expressed happiness with the turn out of mothers at the sensitization programme saying, “I know that breastfeeding is very important as far as our children are concern because as a mother breastfeed her child, the child is bound to grow well in every aspect because the breast milk contains all the necessary ingredients that the child needs to grow with.
Health Experts during a sensitization meeting with nursing mothers on World Breastfeeding Week, “Zero Water Campaign” in Calabar…recently.
“And I know women will get more knowledge on how to breastfeed their babies and it’s important. Like I interviewed some of them this morning, they are still giving their babies water and breast milk and I told them, its only exclusive breastfeeding that will give their children the necessary nutrients needed for proper growth for the first six months in the child’s life.
“We need to change their mind set from believing that the breast milk is not enough for the baby. There are so many factors that can stop breast milk from coming out. One of the factors could be that the nursing mother could be emotionally disturbed and that could prevent the milk from coming out, so that is were the husbands need to come in, they have to support their wives to complete this task of giving the baby the best first six months of his or her life. And again, you feed your baby on demand, it’s not only when you feel like that you breastfeed the baby on demand”.
A nursing mother, Mrs Deborah Ndarake said, “I feed my baby with water, formula and breast milk right from when he was born. I couldn’t stand his crying so we decided to get the formula and started giving him water. He is just six days old. My baby can eat too much, I don’t even know what to do.”
Her husband, Mr. Ndarake, stated, “I am happy supporting my wife with taking care of my baby, it was not an easy road for her, so I have to support her in every way I can like whenever she is breastfeeding, probably, she might need a handkerchief to clean the baby, I help her with that and many more. As you can see, I am the one holding the baby, I support her a lot but she is not doing exclusive breastfeeding” .
On her part, Bright Edet said, “I feel good to be here because I am learning new things that I don’t know before. This baby knows how to suck. My baby is four months old and I am not doing exclusive because the baby likes food a lot. Maybe, I will do exclusive when I have my second baby”.
A father who believes in exclusive breastfeeding after his first baby, Mr Godswill Nsikak said, ” my baby is eight months old and strong because I supported my wife in exclusive breastfeeding.
“First, it is the duty of a man to make sure that there is food on the table for the family, without food, no mother will want the child to suck her dry, so the husband has to ensure that she eats very well. My baby is my third. We did not do exclusive breastfeeding on the first baby but the second and third, we did exclusive. We noticed that the first child is not as smart and strong as the second and third. They are heavy on ground, balance well and smarter”.
