Imo State chairperson of the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Dr. Dorothy Nnaji, has charged nursing mothers in the country to focus more on breast feeding of their babies
She gave the charge while speaking yesterday at an event to mark the 2022 International Breastfeeding Week organised by the Imo State chapter of NAWOJ held in Owerri.
Dr. Nnaji maintained that the importance of breastfeeding to the physical, mental and emotional health of women and their children cannot be quantified.
“Breast milk is something you cannot find in the market, it is nature’s gift, very healthy, nutritious and free. Both the baby and the mother stand to benefit from breastfeeding because it helps the womb to contract and return to its original shape in the course of breastfeeding, it helps to reduce the risk of breast or uterine cancer, among other benefits,” she said.
According to her, the benefits include being economical, helps in emotional bonding, enhances brain development, strengthens immunity and natural intelligence of the child.
On the 2022 International Breastfeeding Week, Nnaji said the event was aimed at creating awareness and sensitisation on breastfeeding to ensure that babies’ well-being is preserved.
According to her, the event is annually commemorated every first week of August as directed by the World Health Organisation in conjunction with UNICEF in the year 1992 and has since then been observed in many countries all over the world.
She said statistics made available by UNICEF indicated that exclusive breastfeeding rate in the country is 29%, an indication that over 70% of infants in Nigeria are denied the benefits of breast milk in their formative years.
One of the resource persons at the programme, an assistant chief nursing officer, Charity Chilaka, in her presentation, lectured women on the benefits and importance of breastfeeding to them, their children, husbands and society.
