The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that babies who are not breastfed are 14 times more likely to die before they reach their first birthday than babies who are exclusively breastfed.
Bauchi Chief of Field Office, UNICEF, Dr Tushar Rane, stated this while speaking at the Media Dialogue on World Breastfeeding Week 2023 held in Azare, Bauchi yesterday.
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He said that breastmilk is the first vaccine for every child, which is safeguarding infants against life-threatening infections, supports optimal brain development in children, especially in the first 1,000 days and it ultimately lowers healthcare costs.
Rane said that women make up 20 million out of the 46 million workforces in Nigeria; 95 per cent are within the informal sector, while the formal sector only employs 5 per cent.
According to him, only nine percent of organizations have a workplace breastfeeding policy, with only 1.5 per cent in the public sector, saying that women in the informal sector have nearly no support for breastfeeding.
Rane said, “We understand that optimal infant feeding is a cornerstone for human capital development while poor Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices bear major risks to child survival and socio-economic growth.”
He said workplace challenges to breastfeeding are one of the primary factors responsible for early cessation of breastfeeding. He added that women require sufficient time and support to breastfeed successfully, “For working mothers, juggling between tasks and breastfeeding may be nearly impossible.”
UNICEF’s boss also urged the government at all levels and employers to provide the needed assistance for mothers and caregivers including those in the informal sector or on temporary contracts to conveniently breastfeed or support breastfeeding.
He also called on the stakeholders to promote policies that encourage breastfeeding, such as paid maternity leave for six months, as well as paid paternity leave, flexible return-to-work options, regular lactation breaks during working hours and adequate facilities that enable mothers to continue exclusive breastfeeding for six months.
He however stressed that, “When working parents and caregivers have sufficient paid leave, they can meet the essential nutritional needs of their young children.