By
Bertha Badu-Agyei, GNA
Kyeremase (E/R), Aug 9, GNA – The Hunger
project Ghana has marked the world breastfeeding week at Kyeremase and Obenyemi
Epicentres with a call on male partners and community members to encourage
lactating mothers to practice exclusive breastfeeding for six months.
The day was marked with community
sensitisation and durbars to educate mothers on the importance of exclusive
breastfeeding and demonstration of proper positioning of babies attachment at
the breast to raise awareness.
Globally, statistics indicate that only about
two out of five of all new-borns are put to the breast within the first thirty
minutes after birth and only 40 per cent of children less than six months of
age are exclusively breastfed.
A report by the Ghana Health Service (GHS)
also indicates that only 52 per cent of Ghanaian mothers exclusively breastfeed
their children suggesting “that a large number of Ghanaian babies are deprived
of the major nutritional, health and psychological benefits of breastfeeding.
Speaking on the theme for this year’s World
Breastfeeding Week, “Breastfeeding: Foundation for Life-a recognition of the
importance of breastfeeding to a baby’s future”, Mrs Stephanie Ashley, the
Maternal and Child Health Project Coordinator at The Hunger Project Ghana noted
that breastmilk provided children with right nutrition and protection needed,
especially in the early stages of their life.
She told participants that breastfeeding was a
low cost way of feeding babies and exclusive breastfeeding helped to prevent
under nutrition, promoted brain development and prevented the child from
infectious diseases at early stage and urged mothers not to waste money on baby
formulae.
She said the practice of exclusively
breastfeeding babies for the first six months, was one of the cardinal
interventions of Hunger Project Ghana’s Maternal and Child Healthcare
Improvement Project (sponsored by Else Kroner Fresenius foundation)
The midwife at the Kyeremase Epicentre clinic,
Madam Abigail Appiah Tawiah, said apart from saving money from buying baby
formulae, the exclusive breastfeeding served as a life-saver for babies and
therefore encouraged them to patronise the maternal and child health services
offered at the facility.
The Maternal and Child Healthcare Improvement
Project initiated by THP aims improving access to quality of healthcare
services through specialised trainings of midwifery assistants, equipping of
Epicentre clinics with standard delivery beds with obstetric kits, and increase
knowledge and awareness of maternal and child healthcare in fifteen(15) out of
the forty-five(45) epicentres in Ghana.”
The Epicentres are Comprehensive Health
Planning Services (CHPS) compounds built by the Hunger project Ghana in
collaboration with the beneficiary communities.
GNA