-As Liberia Joins World Health Organization, Rest of the World to Observe Breastfeeding Week
By Alaskai Moore Johnson, alaskaijohnson@gmail.com, +231-777-889-870 / +231-886-631-025
IPNEWS – Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor is urging mothers to breastfeed their babies for at most six months before introducing them (babies) to another food while still breastfeeding their little ones as long as they (mothers) want.
Liberia’s observation of the World Breastfeeding Week begins from today, Monday, August 14 and runs to the 19th, 2023. And, this year’s celebration places more emphasis on the need for greater breastfeeding support across all workplaces to sustain and improve progress on breastfeeding rates globally.
Speaking from her Office over the weekend, the Vice President said, “Today, Liberia joins the global community to observe the breastfeeding week dedicated to promoting and supporting breast feeding as one of the most and cost-effective ways to save and improve the lives of children by yielding lifelong health benefits for infants and their mothers.”
This year’s breastfeeding week, which is being celebrated under the theme, “Let’s Make Breastfeeding at Work, Work” focuses on promoting the practices that can help to sustain and improve progress on breastfeeding.
“Evidence has shown that breast feeding is keyed for a child’s health development as well as the foundation of a country’s development because it is one of the smartest investments benefiting individuals, families and society at large including ending preventable child deaths, improving maternal and child health, boosting educational attainment, and increasing productivity,” the first-ever female Vice President of Liberia and biological mother of one, said.
The Liberian Vice President urged everyone to make breastfeeding at work to work by implementing family-friendly workplace policies that promote exclusive breastfeeding.
She added: “Considering the health and socioeconomic benefits of breast feeding, I call on all Liberians, partners, private sector and civil society organizations to:
- Promote supportive breastfeeding environment for all working mothers.
- Encourage all breastfeeding mothers to exclusively feed their babies as recommended by the Ministry of health.
- Stop or mitigate the challenges faced by breastfeeding mothers, such as social barriers, inadequate support in workplaces, and limited family support to breastfeeding mothers. Breastfeeding is a right to the baby and the mother.”
She thanked the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF for providing the technical guidance and necessary tools to the Ministry of Health to promote breastfeeding in Liberia.
“I encourage all partners to support the government by investing and implementing the national policies and programs to promote breastfeeding in the country.”
Responding to what she could recommend for being a good mother, she stated, “breastfeeding is an important part of being a mother.” She admonished every mother to go beyond the ordinary to ensure that their babies are breastfed at least up to the six-month period that the babies need.
The Vice President said there are scientific reasons why the experts are asking mothers to breastfeed their babies for such a length of time.
“It is said that it boosts the brain during the development of the child for the first six months. It also provides immunity. The breast milk for the first six months is yellowish and not white because it contains all the nutrients that are needed for the baby,” he further stated.
She further informs that the breast milk also helps to protect the baby from life-threatening illnesses, including pneumonia, and diarrhea.
“It also is important because it helps that baby grows strong. It prevents stunting; and we have been talking about stunting in our Liberian children.”
She disclosed that the process begins before the baby is born; adding: “From the time the mother gets pregnant, all the nutrients that the baby would need must be provided.” So, she advised mothers to eat the best food because as their babies are in their wombs, they are being adequately developed based on what their mothers eat.
Touching on the issue with breastfeeding in Liberia, the Liberian Vice President said the statistic shows that more than 50 percent of Liberian mothers’ babies are not breastfed, which means that that number of babies is already malnourished. She added sadly, “Most of those babies die before reaching five.”
“The other issue is that if our children are not breastfed, the mother herself can have some challenges. It is said that breastfeeding helps prevent different kinds of cancers in women. So, it is benefit not just to the child, but also to the mother. While you are breastfeeding, ovarian and breast cancers can also be reduced,” Vice-President Taylor disclosed.
One challenge she pointed out in the Liberian Government is that it is a policy for breastfeeding mothers to be placed on maternity leave for three months. “So, if we are now asking for mothers to breastfeed their babies for six months, that is a challenge, because after three months, the mother has to go back to work. I think that the three-month maternity leave is a real critical thing for mothers.”
The Vice President disclosed that she breastfed her child for more than six months. “I was a student at the University of Liberia. So, what I used to do is, I would get up in the morning and squeezed six to seven bottles of breast milk and leave them.” She stated that she breastfed her son for a whole year and this was based on pieces of advice from her mother, who was an OBGYN Nurse. She emphasized that the breast milk has the “original” nutrients that the child needs to develop fully.
She indicated that while breastfeeding can’t be forced or made mandatory on mothers, advocacy is the way to educate mothers on the benefits they and their babies get when they are breastfed. “So, we have to find a way to get this piece of information down to the lowest root, so that women understand why.”
In order for this and other vital health messages to get to the people in the communities, Vice-President Taylor called for the full utilization of the community health workers because they are spread across the entire country. “So, because they are already there at that local level, we can be even begin to use them to talk about the issues of breastfeeding so our mothers understand why. So, we have to do a lot in terms of advocacy, training and providing information at the lowest level.” She stressed that more works need to be done in order to make women change some of their perceptions about breastfeeding. She disclosed that some women determined from the onset of their pregnancy that they won’t breastfeed their babies because they don’t want their breasts to drop. “When you are talking about having a baby, it goes beyond you, because you are now bringing a whole new life to bear and it is totally impossible to worry about yourself: that baby becomes a priority. So, if you don’t want your breasts to drop, don’t have any children.”
The Vice President stated that the breast milk is a natural gift from God in order to make babies grow healthily; so, no mothers should endanger the lives of their babies by denying them the breast milk.
UNICEF Executive Director and WHO Director-General Joint Statement on World Breastfeeding Week
It’s not clear why Liberia began its celebration from today, Monday, August 14, to 19th, but the breastfeeding week is usually observed from August 1st to the 7th.
In a Joint Statement by UNICEF’s Catherine Russell and WHO’s Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, they said that in the last 10 years, many countries have made significant progress to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates. Yet even greater progress is possible when breastfeeding is protected and supported, particularly in the workplace.
“This World Breastfeeding Week, under its theme, “Let’s make breastfeeding at work, work” – UNICEF and WHO are emphasizing the need for greater breastfeeding support across all workplaces to sustain and improve progress on breastfeeding rates globally.
“In the last decade, the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding has increased by a remarkable 10 percentage points, to 48 per cent globally. Countries as diverse as Cote d’Ivoire, Marshall Islands, the Philippines, Somalia and Viet Nam have achieved large increases in breastfeeding rates, showing that progress is possible when breastfeeding is protected, promoted, and supported.
“However, to reach the global 2030 target of 70 percent, the barriers women and families face to achieve their breastfeeding goals must be addressed.
“Supportive workplaces are key. Evidence shows that while breastfeeding rates drop significantly for women when they return to work, that negative impact can be reversed when workplaces facilitate mothers to continue to breastfeed their babies.
“Family-friendly workplace policies – such as paid maternity leave, breastfeeding breaks, and a room where mothers can breastfeed or express milk – create an environment that benefits not only working women and their families but also employers. These polices generate economic returns by reducing maternity-related absenteeism, increasing the retention of female workers, and reducing the costs of hiring and training new staff.”
Watch and listen to VP President Howard Taylor as urges mothers to breastfeed their babies.
