Experts Harp On Benefits Of Breastfeeding

Panelists at a one-day engagement with state actors have advocated for enabling environment for working mothers to breastfeed their babies while at work.

This was the outcome of the celebration of World Breastfeeding Week with the theme, “Enabling breastfeeding: Making Difference for Working Parents,” organised by Sokoto State Primary Healthcare Development Agency with the support of fhi360, A&T and Nutritional Society of Nigeria, Sokoto chapter.

The panelists, led by renowned professor of public health Mansur Oche, regretted that only 20 percent of mothers exclusively breastfed their children in the country.

They posited that “without giving an enabling environment, the government loses man-hours instead of higher productivity to the benefit of the society.”

On her part, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed Binji, who represented FOMWAN, emphasised that Islam supports adequate breastfeeding, adding that FOMWAN has been in the forefront of advocating for this.

She noted that “breast milk is nutritional, healthy and it is the best feeding with no hassle over preparation.”

The permanent secretary in the state Ministry for Women and Children Development, Aisha Mohammed Dantsoho, said the state was working towards providing creches in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as well as the extension of maternal leave to six months for working mothers as is the case in some states.