Gains Of Exclusive Breastfeeding

From all indications, a busy schedule, the dearth of breastfeeding stations in public places and other exigencies of modern life are making more women to turn away from breastfeeding their babies to the more convenient use of baby formula.

A first-time mother, Mrs Lovett Abutu, underscores her preference for baby formula as a means of feeding her baby because of certain considerations.

She says that for instance, she usually feels odd whenever she has to leave church services in order to feed her baby outside the church.

The 23-year-old lady also confesses that she is afraid of “having sagging breasts at my age just because I have a baby’’.

Abutu is contemplating of switching to baby formula for her child’s nourishment because she believes that the arrangement is more suitable, while it will enable her husband to help out in feeding the baby, particularly at nighttime.

In spite of such considerations, experts insist that breastfeeding plays a major role in enhancing the nutritional status, mental development as well as the health and survival of infants and toddlers.

This explains the reason why UNICEF has consistently been calling for the sensitisation of mothers and policymakers to the importance of exclusive breastfeeding of newborns.

Mr Donatus Amuzue, a health educator at St. Mary’s Catholic Hospital, Gwagwalada, FCT, says exclusive breastfeeding is a situation where a mother only gives her child breast milk without water, particularly in the first six months after birth.

“A newborn should be introduced to breast milk within the first hour of life.

“This is because research has shown that colostrum, which is the first milk that the woman produces after childbirth, protects the child from measles and other diseases,” he says.

Besides, Amuzue says that exclusive breastfeeding also contributes to disease prevention and brain development in the baby.

He says that breast milk helps children to develop antibodies to fight infections, adding that children, who were breastfed, usually have Intelligence Quotient (IQ) scores averaging seven to ten points higher than formula-fed infants.

Amuzue, who is the Volunteer Coordinator of the St. Ann’s Hospice, Gwagwalada, stresses that children of mothers with terminal diseases can still benefit from the nutritional and health benefits of breast milk with minimal risk.

He says that people living with HIV and AIDS, cancer and other terminal diseases can actually breastfeed their babies without compromising the standard as long as they do so under a doctor’s guidance.

“A nursing mother living with the HIV virus is encouraged to breastfeed her baby while on drugs, while the baby is also expected to take prescribed drugs for six weeks,’’ he adds.

Amuzue reiterates that the baby will not face any risk during the exclusive breastfeeding period because “breast milk has a strong virus killing effect and it protects the baby against oral transmission of HIV.”

He, nonetheless, advises mothers living with breast cancer to refrain from breastfeeding their babies.

As for nursing mothers themselves, Amuzue says that breastfeeding is not a selfless act because the mothers also garner some benefits from breastfeeding their babies.

“Exclusive breastfeeding helps nursing mothers to regain their pre-pregnancy weight by optimising their ability to burn calories.

“Studies also show that women who refrain from breastfeeding are four times more likely to develop osteoporosis than those who engage in breastfeeding; they are more likely to suffer from hip fractures in their post-menopausal years.

“Also, breastfeeding mothers are shown to suffer less from postpartum anxiety and depression than formula-feeding mothers.

“Breastfeeding also helps mothers to achieve a natural bond with their babies,’’ he adds.

Amuzue says that since breastfeeding delays ovulation, it can also help in child-spacing efforts, which is also beneficial to a woman’s health.

Beyond that, some economic considerations are in favour of exclusive breastfeeding.

The cost of buying baby formula for newborns may be somewhat prohibitive for most Nigerian families.

For instance, the World Bank 2010 World Development Report says that the average monthly family income for Nigerians is between N3,500 and N30,000.

In essence, this means that the constant need to buy baby formula may force indigent families to buy low-quality and low-cost products, to the detriment of their child’s development.

Therefore, analysts insist that regardless of the fact that breastfeeding may not always be convenient; breast milk is cheaper and healthier than baby formula.

Dr John Omega, a surgeon with the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, argues that prolonged breastfeeding also reduces the risk of contracting breast, uterine and ovarian cancers.

“The ideal breastfeeding period is between six months to one year.

“Due to the fact that some women cannot do that because of the nature of their jobs, they introduce complementary feeding after six months.

“Even if you are forced to breastfeed your baby for a period less than the recommended six months, it’s better to breastfeed the baby for a short time than no time at all,” he says.

However, Dr Garba Omale, an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Garki General Hospital, Abuja, insists that it is nature and not breastfeeding that causes drooping breasts.

“When breasts are pulled down by gravity, genes which determine the elasticity of your skin and ligaments are the only things that can prevent them from sagging,’’ he says.

Omale explains that the major cause of flabby breasts is pregnancy and not breastfeeding.

“After weaning or right after pregnancy or at menopause, even if you do not breastfeed at all, the tissue inside the breast shrinks, while the surrounding skin remains the same,’’ he says.

He expatiates that due to the fact pregnancy and breastfeeding occur around the same time, people have erroneously blamed breastfeeding for drooping breasts.

In 1992, the Federal Government introduced the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, which classified some hospitals as baby friendly.

The fundamental element of the programme was aimed at educating mothers about the benefits of breastfeeding and how to breastfeed babies properly, while expectant mothers were encouraged to breastfeed their babies within one hour after childbirth.

Observers, however, note that paucity of funds made the initiative to become moribund and eventually die out, while all the designated baby friendly hospitals discontinued with the policy.

All the same, Prof. Ignatius Onimawo, the President of Nutrition Society of Nigeria, insists that mothers’ interest in exclusive breastfeeding could be rekindled if they are properly sensitised to the benefits of breastfeeding.

“If mothers are properly educated, with a renewed focus on nutrition education, the rate of breastfeeding among nursing mothers will definitely increase,’’ he adds.

The professor says that some studies on breastfeeding indicate that a major factor that led to a decrease in breastfeeding involves the premature exposure of the baby to water.

“If water is introduced to a baby, breastfeeding drops to about 11 per cent,” he adds.

Dr Muhammad Salisu, Consultant Paediatrician at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), recommends that working mothers should squeeze out milk from their breasts and store it in containers before leaving for work.

He says that apart from being better than any baby formula in the market, the stored breast milk could last for 24 hours without any contamination.

Dr Durojaiye Idris of the Department of Family Medicine in LASUTH urges offices to adhere to the policy of providing a crèche at the workplace so as to enable nursing mothers to have a convenient place to breastfeed their babies whenever they return to work.

He, however, notes that if the federal and state governments could expand the duration of maternity leave from three months to six months, more nursing mothers would be able to achieve the recommended exclusive breastfeeding target.

“In so doing, babies will be well-breastfed and there will be more healthy and intelligent people in the country,” Idris says.

Medical experts, nonetheless, advise husbands to always endeavour to support their wives, while encouraging them to breastfeed their babies outside the home.

They argue that the health benefits of exclusive breastfeeding will boost Nigeria’s chances of attaining the fourth target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which focuses on reducing child mortality rates.

To that end, the experts call on the Federal Government to formulate policies that would promote the exclusive breastfeeding of newborns, as part of structured efforts to improve maternal and child health care in the country.

Okeniyi is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Olayemi Okeniyi