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Dr. Mordi Ononye, Delta State Commissioner for Health.

By Donald Ojebo

Stakeholders, particularly breastfeeding mothers have been told to embrace early initiation of breastfeeding practice in the first hour of birth and into the second year of life of children.

The Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr Mordi Ononye, made the call in a statement he released as part of activities to mark the 2020 World Breast Feeding Week, which run from August 1 -7, 2020, with the theme: ‘Support Breastfeeding for a Healthier Planet’.

Dr Ononye stated that early initiation of unrestricted exclusive breastfeeding results in ample milk production to sustain the infants and leads to 87% preventable deaths in infants younger than 6 months and also ensures quicker recovery from childhood illnesses.

According to him, adequate breast milk provides energy, protein, vitamins, minerals and water for a healthy growth and development for cognitive development of children to make them do better in school.

He listed other benefits of adequate breastfeeding to include strong immunity through the transfer of maternal antibodies that protects the child from common ailments such as diarrhea and vomiting, respiratory tract infection and reduction in the risk of being infected with disease.

For the mother, Dr Ononye said that breastfeeding would stimulate uterine contraction resulting in the prevention of Post-Partum Haemorrhage, promote uterine involution and lowers the risk of developing breast cancer later in life.

He stressed that adequate breastfeeding is also good for the family, explaining that It enhances the natural family planning by pausing ovulation and menstruation for proper child spacing, economical and promotes family bonding.

Overall, Dr Ononye said the communities and nation will be better for it, saying that there would be a healthy grooming of the young into a healthy and productive adult and ensure a cleaner, eco-friendly, environment by reducing the generation and dumping of artificial/processed breastmilk substitute containers/packages.

During breastfeeding, he noted, bonding is established between the baby and mother creating a healthy psycho-social relationship in the family and wellbeing for all in the face of the COVID-19 disease, to keep mother and baby together thereby preventing avoidable exposure to strangers.

He said statistics from the Multiple Indicators Custer Survey (MICS 2017) showed that Nigeria had 97% breastfeeding rate for all nursing mothers and an exclusive breastfeeding rate of 25% (less than the 2025 Global target of 50%) for the first six months of child birth.

The commissioner gave the National Nutrition and Health Survey-NNHS 2018 statistics for Delta State breastfeeding rates for children 0-23 month of age to include 94% for ever being breastfed, 49% for being breastfed within the first hour birth, 80% for being breastfed within the first day of birth.

He expressed worry at the State’s 49% breastfeeding rate within the first hour of birth, saying it is still lower than the 2025 global target of 50% and called for the redoubling of efforts to improve the rating.

Ononye affirmed that WHO’s member states that endorsed the global targets for improving maternal, infant and young child nutrition were committed to monitoring progress, adding the targets are vital for identifying priority areas for action and catalyzing global change.

The Global Nutrition Targets 2025, he said are to address stunted growth by 40% in the number of children under-5 years, reduce Anaemia by 50% in women of reproductive age and birth weight by 30% in low birth weight rate.

Others targets are to stop over weight and Increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months up to at least 50%. Even though Delta State targets 80% in the first instance, as well as reduce and maintain childhood wasting to less than 5%.

The health commissioner disclosed that state government through the Primary Health Care Development Agency in collaboration with Partner Agencies had commenced the establishment of Breastfeeding Support Groups in the LGAs and Wards.

This, he explained, is to protect and promote women’s access to skilled breastfeeding counselling, imploring women including nursing mothers and care givers to advantage of this initiative.

He said the World Breastfeeding Week should remind everyone of the need to promote, protect and support breastfeeding practices so as to develop the young (our leaders of tomorrow) adequately for a better and productive adulthood.

Noting that while the Breastfeeding Week runs from 1st to 7th August, 2020, he encouraged all to promote breastfeeding always, appealing to institutions, organizations, families and individuals to implement the breastfeeding policy adapted by the Delta State Government in line with the global guidelines.