Federal Govt, Stakeholders Pledge To Eliminate Stereotypes Impeding Breastfeeding

The federal government and key nutrition stakeholders have committed to creating the environment for women to breastfeed their children in work places and in the public.

They made the commitment yesterday at a breastfeeding breakfast meeting for key nutrition stakeholders in commemoration of the 2022 World Breastfeeding Week, in Abuja.

The minister of state for health, Joseph Ekumankama, who led the team to sign the commitment, noted that women occupy about 45 per cent of the country’s workforce, adding that women need both emotional and moral support to nurse their babies.

He said; “The government, workplace and religious institutions should assist breastfeeding mothers.”
Also, the chief of nutrition, UNICEF Nigeria, Dr. Namat Hajeebhay, said; “Breast milk is the most essential food you can give to your child during the first six months of his life”. She urged every woman to breastfeed their children effectively for a healthy growth.
The chairperson, Nutrition Society of Nigeria, FCT chapter, Dr. Florence Uchendu, stressed the need for mothers to take nutritional food that would boost the breast milk to have healthy children. She also urged mothers to desist from giving their infants milk formula.