Pediatrists emphasise that the best way to stay out of malnutrition and mortality is to ensure that breastfeeding commences within the first one hour of birth and be sustained up to the first and second year.

While researchers are yet to come up with all the properties of breast milk, it is understood that its nutrient content is relatively stable. Made from nutrients from the mother’s bloodstream, and bodily stores breast milk has just the right amount of fat, sugar, water and protein needed for a baby’s growth and development.

The fact that breastfeeding uses an average of 500 calories a day, helps the mother lose weight after delivery, while it has also been proven to be a reliable instrument of family planning.

Drawing strength therefore, from the immunity-boosting potential of this exercise, experts say that approximately 0.25-0.5 grams per day of secretory IgA antibodies pass to the baby via the milk, a very important feature of the colustrum the breast milk creates for newborns, the World Health Organization in collaboration with the United Nations  Children Education Fund (UNICEF) saw the need for an exclusive deal.

The  world breast feeding week on inception as its theme. “Baby friendly: a hospital initiative”.

Ever since, the yearly breastfeeding week rituals come and go with varying themes yet with greater emphasis on exclusive breast feeding.

Meaning that breast feeding, the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts, via lactation rather than from a baby bottle or other container, has not just been spotted as a veritable infant meal, it has been highlighted as exclusive baby meal.

What this means is random feeing, exclusively on breast milk without water or other solid food for the first six months of birth.

Bearing in mind therefore, that most nursing mothers are also working mothers, and even in situations where work ceases to be the case, no woman would be kept in a place without official outing either for religious, social or economic purposes for the sole reason of breast-feeding a child.

If that also be the case, it follows that Nursing mothers must move about with their babies to be able to meet up the demands of exclusive breast feeding.

The question now is how many would subscribe to breast feeding a baby in the bus, market place, Church arena, school environment, workplace etc?

Mrs Obirieze Ijeoma, a business woman, would want to breast-feed her baby any where. However, reactions from within her environment hampers her resolve to effectively breast-feed her baby irrespective of where.

She said “One day my baby needed a suck in the bus, though I was shy but I summoned up courage and started breast-feeding him only for the next passenger to me, a male, to start playing with the baby up to the point of singing and touching the baby and I was like . ah! What is this man trying to do and immediately, I had to put in my breast and stopped breast-feeding him even though he had to continue crying.”

Mrs Patience Naenwii; a beautician is another subscriber to breast feeding in the public. According to her she ensures that she conceals the nipples from the public view while being mindful of the baby’s nose. “When I want to breast-feed my child, I will be conscious of men not seeing my nakedness, I may not just excuse them, but they will always know I want to breast-feed my child through my actions. “But I try as much as possible not to be distracted or discouraged by their actions,” she said.

While many women wouldn’t see any thing wrong in publicly breast-feeding, the men have varying opinions.

For Mr. Boye Salau, a journalist, it looks quite absurd for his wife to breast feed in the public especially in the bus. However, in the event of an extreme need for a suck Boye would want it done discreetly as any exposure would not be tolerated. “even in a public function, she could excuse herself and go to a corner and breast-feed the baby”, he said.

For Mr. Jerry, a pharmacist, wherever duty calls, attention should be given immediately. Be it in a public bus, public events, he is indifferent so long as his baby calls for it, there must be no excuse.

There have been incidents of owners of premises, or people present, objecting to or forbidding breast-feeding. In some classes, the mothers have left, others, where a law guaranteeing the right to breast-feeding has been broken, there has been legal action.

Most U.S States as at January 2009 have laws clarifying a woman’s right to breastfeed in public.

However, many women have been reportedly feeling uncomfortable breastfeeding in public even doing that discreetly, as it is considered embarrassing. This is why the numerous calls for the establishment of baby care facilities in public places.

Mothers who would have loved to breast feed in public with ease, avoid it due to complaints ranging from disturb to indecent exposure as it is common to see women slighted or looked upon as exalted animals just for breastfeeding in public places.

Seeing that breastfeeding is an important basic act of nurturing that deserves protection in the interest of maternal and child health, a mother may breastfeed a child in any location; public or private where the mother and child are authorized to be.

Hence, it is important that employers be required to allow lactating employees breaks to breastfeed or express breast milk. Offices, public establishments such as malls and schools and government institutions can establish location stations separate from the bathrooms where mothers can breastfeed their babies or express milk.

Meanwhile, even where there is obviously no legislation that specifically addresses breast feeding in public, the child’s right to nurse act seeks to protect a child right to be breastfed in any location where the mother-child pair are otherwise, authorized to be.

Nevertheless, where it is a legal right, some mothers may be reluctant to breast-feed while others may still object to the practice.

As we celebrate this year’s world breastfeeding week, which is aimed at improving the health of babies around the world as well as commemorating the WHO/UNICEF declaration of August 1990 to protect, promote and support breastfeeding as the best way to provide newborns with nutrients they need, it is important to look back, understand what has happened and why.

It is also important we plan what more can be done to support all women to be able to optimally feed and care for their infants and young ones.

Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi