WBW: Nations of Africa, leaders should embrace exclusive breastfeeding, insists Adewumi
Dr (Mrs) Rachael Adewumi
By Ekuson Nw'Ogbunka
Abuja
Due to the benefit from the practice, the president of one of the Africa's foremost international Non- Governmental Organisations (NGO), the Takem Empowerment Initiatives, Dr (Mrs) Rachael Adewumi has insisted that African nations should strictly embrace exclusive breastfeeding.
The NGO president who is currently the woman leader of the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTs), in Abuja made the call, while marking 2023 World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) in the nation's capital, Abuja.
Initiated and sponsored by arms of the United Nations (UN): the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Education Fund (UNICEF), the event which starts from August 1st and lasts for one week, is organised yearly by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA)
A global network of individuals and organisations, WABA is dedicated to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, with the objectives of achieving a world, where breastfeeding is the cultural norm and families enabled to feed and care optimally for their infants and young children, thus contributing to a just and healthy society. WBW emphasizes the significance of breastfeeding as a natural and beneficial way to nourish infants.
The themes for 2023 event are "Let Us Make Breastfeeding and Work and; "Enabling Breastfeeding: Making a Difference for Working Mothers." The themes however focus on breastfeeding and work, providing a strategic opportunity to advocate for essential maternity rights that support breastfeeding – maternity leave for a minimum of 18 weeks, ideally more than six months, and workplace accommodations after this point and paid leave on employed breastfeeding families.
Hailing the theme and sending her message across, Amb Rachael Adewumi appealed to the stakeholders, including governments and their leaders; parents, companies, NGOs, the rich, the people of goodwill, international organisations, religious bodies, among others to as a matter of importance, encourage adequate breastfeeding.
She said that exclusive breastfeeding, 'at least for six months,' contributes immensely to the soundness of the child's present and future state of health. A baby who was privileged to have exclusive breastfeeding, according to her is bound to be adequately fit and balanced healthwise.
She however appealed to other governments and leaders to legitimately do everything that would enhance adequate breastfeeding, for at least six months, to the exclusion of any other diet. She also sent the same message across to the NGOs, international organisations, companies, religious bodies, the rich and the people of goodwill, among others.
While advising fathers to also give mothers all the incentives in the pursuit, Chief (Mrs) Adewumi informed that there is a bond between a baby and its mother, through adequate breastfeeding. According to her, the bond starts, with the fact that the first face, voice, among others that a baby recognises is that of its mother, adding that while a baby is sucking breast, when it pauses, the next thing is to look up at its mother's face. She therefore noted that the disapearance of the bond starts, when a mother abandons her baby for work; this she observed, would also affect the health of the baby.
Still, making case on the importance of breastfeeding, she stated that, the magical successes the leaders of tomorrow will enjoy, both at local and international levels, according to her would be from strict compliance to exclusive breastfeeding. She attributed wealth, effective leadership and good health that citizens of developed nations of the world have over the time been enjoying was due to exclusive breastfeeding.