Here’s why you should breastfeed your baby!

Nahnyong says her brother’s wife thought her in-laws either hated her or were jealous of her because she had enough money to buy milk for her new born baby and prevent her breast from ‘falling’.

“As educated as she was, she snubbed all the advice to breastfeed her kids for at least six months, but when she bore her third child, the breasts she risked her children’s life for, still shrank.” Nahnyong says, adding that "even our grandmothers have always known the importance of breast milk, I don’t know what is happening to this new generation of girls”.

While women like Nahnyong’s sister in-law have diverse erroneous justifications for not breastfeeding their children, other women in some communities in Northern Cameroon are obliged to delay breast feeding for their newborns because of cultural beliefs.

 Woman breastfeeds her son in Cameroon's North region,2016

In the Bibemi community, it was believed that the first breast milk flow after delivery should be collected and thrown away. It was believed to be poisonous, until a UNICEF campaign in the area led to a change in the mentality of the people.

Despite efforts by UNICEF and other non-governmental organisations to sensitize women worldwide on the importance of breastfeeding babies within an hour of birth, statistics indicate that globally, some 77million newborns are not breast fed within this period.

A July 29 press release from UNICEF says when children deprived of breastmilk within this period are denied essential nutrients, antibodies and skin-to-skin contact with their mother that protects them from disease and death.

Baby’s first vaccine

“Breastmilk is a baby’s first vaccine, the first and best protection they have against illness and disease,” France Bégin, UNICEF Senior Nutrition Adviser said in a statement. “With newborns accounting for nearly half of all deaths of children under five, early breastfeeding can make the difference between life and death.”

North Region:UNICEF agents sensitize nursing mothers on nutrition

“Making babies wait too long for the first critical contact with their mother outside the womb decreases the newborn’s chances of survival, limits milk supply and reduces the chances of exclusive breastfeeding,” Bégin said.

The longer breastfeeding is delayed, the higher the risk of death in the first month of life. Delaying breastfeeding by 2-23 hours after birth increases the risk of dying in the first 28 days of life by 40 per cent. Delaying it by 24 hours or more increases that risk to 80 per cent.

“If all babies are fed nothing but breastmilk from the moment they are born until they are six months old, over 800,000 lives would be saved every year.”

UNICEF analyses show that women are not getting the help they need to start breastfeeding immediately after birth even when a doctor, nurse of midwife is assisting their delivery.

Going by the UNICEF press release, in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, where under five mortality rates are the highest worldwide, early breastfeeding rates increased by just 10 percentage points since 2000 in East and Southern Africa but have remained unchanged in West and Central Africa.

The same analyses also indicate that in the Middle East, North Africa and in South Asia, for example, women who deliver with a skilled birth attendant are less likely to initiate breastfeeding in the first hour of life, compared to women who deliver with unskilled attendants or relatives.

Feeding babies other liquids or foods is another reason early breastfeeding is delayed. In many countries, it is customary to feed a baby infant formula, cow’s milk or sugar water in the first three days of life, UNICEF says. Almost half of all newborns are fed these liquids. When babies are given less nutritious alternatives to breastmilk, they breastfeed less often, making it harder for mothers to start and continue breastfeeding.

Findings also show only 43 per cent of infants under six months old are exclusively breastfed globally. Babies who are not breastfed at all are 14 times more likely to die than those who are fed only breastmilk.

But any amount of breastmilk reduces a child’s risk of death. Babies who received no breastmilk at all are seven times more likely to die from infections than those who received at least some breastmilk in their first six months of life.     

Several activities are underway in various parts of Cameroon in commemoration of the World Breastfeeding Week celebrated every year from August1 to 7.