Florence Udoh
8 August 2007
Lagos — EVEN as the entire world mark the Breast feeding week, this week, rising incidence of pre-mature deaths among babies and the social ills plaguing the country have been traced to the decline in the breastfeeding culture over the last five years in the country.
Indeed, experts have said repeatedly that exclusive breast-feeding in the first six months of an infants life and thereafter continuous breast-feeding for at least two years is the best.
This is so, because it not only reduces the risk of diseases such as diarrhoea pneumonia and premature deaths, but also promotes a close mother and baby bond which translates to a more emotionally and socially adjusted adult.
Speaking over the weekend in Lagos in an exclusive chat with Champion Health Forum, a medical doctor with Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Dr. (Mrs) Yetunde Komolafe said a woman who breast-feeds her baby exclusively for 6 months reduces the rate at which her baby falls sick.
"This is because breast milk contains all the essential antibodies the body needs to stay healthy."
Breast milk contains a high amount of antibiotics and vitamins that boosts babies immune system against all types of infection" Komolafe stated.
She lamented the introduction of bottled baby milk formulas which lack the ingredients that can protect babies from diseases.
Indeed, extensive research in recent years have shown the many benefits of breast milk to children.
Which explains, why five years ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) came up with the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) insisting on all mothers to exclusively breast-feed their babies for 6 months.
Komolafe emphasized that babies that are breast-feed are more healthy and socially adjusted to life.
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