‘Children Not Breast-Fed Risk Dying Prematurely’

Compared to children who are breastfed from birth, children who are not given breast milk stand the risk of dying.
The Director, State Nutrition Officer, Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board, Mrs Joan Songo Awotunde stated this as one of the key risks involved in not breast feeding an infant.
Awotunde, who stated this in an exclusive interview with The Tide recently in Port Harcourt stated that myriads of women fail to breast feed their children without considering the risk involved.
Speaking on the topic, “Benefits of breast-feeding”, Mrs Awotunde said, the risk in not breast- feeding children from infancy was enormous.
According to her, firstly, an infant that is not given the first breast milk from its mother on delivery, misses its first immunisation from the colostrum.
She stated that a child that is given infant formula in place of breast milk, would lack the inherent antibodies in breast milk, and hence, likely to be exposed to frequent respiratory infections.
Other risks include greater risk of malnutrition, especially for younger infants, lower scores on intelligence tests and lower ability to learn at school.

Sogbeba Dokubo