Speakers call for promoting breastfeeding
Health experts have called for the promotion of breastfeeding stating that breast milk is not only essential to a newborn’s health but also protects the mother from various diseases.
Speaking at an awareness session at the Railway Hospital Westridge in connection with the International Breastfeeding Week, Pakistan Islamic Medical Association women's wing central president Dr Naveed Butt said that it was necessary to convince new mothers that breast milk is vital for the health of the new-born as it boosts their immunity and protects them from numerous diseases.
“Breast milk is full of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Breast-fed babies live healthy lives, in addition to the formation of a love bond between a mother and a child. It also prevents breast cancer in women and reduces the chances of other complicated diseases as well,” she said.
Meanwhile, Army Medical College former principal Maj-Gen Dr Salman Ali said in a conversation on Riphah University’s Radio regarding the International Breastfeeding Week that “it is a national emergency; our nation has the highest mortality rate of new-borns and young children under the age of five as compared to the rest of the world.
In our country, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the significance and benefits of breast milk, which is vital for lowering these fatalities.”
He said that the media and health professionals should work together to increase awareness about the importance of breastfeeding.
It should be noted here that the World Breastfeeding Week, which lasts from the first of August till the seventh, was observed in Pakistan too with the hosting of various seminars on the topic. Practically, however, the legal measures which are essential for the promotion of breastfeeding and discouraging the use of formula milk remain inactive.
The government promulgated the Protection of Breast Feeding and Child Nutrition Ordinance, 2002 (XCIII Of 2002) on 26th October 2002. After the 18th Constitutional Amendment, all four provincial governments replicated the legislation. However, few efforts had been made to enforce the law on a national or provincial basis.
Optimal breastfeeding means a child should be immediately breastfed within the first hour after delivery and exclusively breastfed, with no water, fruit, formula milk or other foods, for the first six months. Then, breastfeeding should continue from six months to two years or beyond and complemented with other safe and nutritionally adequate foods as recommended by the UN agency for children, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization.
Optimal breastfeeding means a child should be immediately breastfed within the first hour after delivery and exclusively breastfed.
In Pakistan, where neonate and infant mortality rates are high, breastfeeding within the first hour of birth can make a vital difference for a child’s chance of survival, the speakers suggested.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 8th, 2022.