World Breastfeeding Week 2023: Let’s make breastfeeding and work, work!

 World Breastfeeding Week 2023: Let’s make breastfeeding and work, work!

Hello World!

My name is Sofonie Dala, we are promoting the World Breastfeeding Week 2023. Each year, from August 1st to August 7th, this significant week is observed in more than 170 countries to raise awareness about the benefits of breastfeeding and to encourage breastfeeding practices worldwide.

World Breastfeeding Week is an annual global event that celebrates and promotes the importance of breastfeeding for infants and young children. The theme for World Breastfeeding Week 2023 is "Let's make breastfeeding and work, work" This theme emphasises the critical role of both mothers and fathers in supporting breastfeeding and highlights the need for creating a supportive environment that enables breastfeeding for the health and well-being of the child.

Interview

Hello, My Name Is Luisa, I am a cook in a mini restaurant!

Mrs. Luisa, how long have you been working?

I've been working for two years.

How old is your baby?

She is one year and 2 weeks old.

Does your job make it difficult for you to breastfeed your baby?

A little, not much.

But is it manageable?

Yes, I can manage both.

How many children do you have?

I have 5 children.

Have you fed them all with breast milk?

Yes they all suckled on my breast.

Could you please share a little bit of your journey as a mother? How long they suckle, have you ever bought milk or not...

Usually my babies suckle until they are 2 years old, after they turn 2 years old I wean them. I have never bought milk to breastfeed my children due to the financial difficulties I face.

But have your babies been well nourished with breast milk?

Yes, they are well nourished.

Did you know that this is World Breastfeeding Week?

No, I didn't know.

Yes, it is a week that goes from August 1 to 7 every year, to promote breastfeeding, this campaign aims to encourage mothers so that they can breastfeed their babies until they are 2 years old.

Wow this is wonderful.

All right, Mrs. Luisa, What Have you been eating to increase breast milk?

I have been eating cassava, cassava with milk, fresh peanuts and lemon grass tea (herbal tea).

Are these foods good for increasing breast milk?

Yes, these foods are good and make me feel alright.

Support from employers is essential for working mothers to be able to exclusively breastfeed their children for up to six months, and supplemented for up to two years or more, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The target audience is local businessmen, trade unions and local trade associations, higher and technical education institutions, health professionals and civil society.

The objective is to provide guidance and raise awareness in society in general about the importance of this period of breastfeeding, bringing reflections and possibilities to strengthen strategies for mothers who return to the labor market and continue to breastfeed.

WHO data show that worldwide, annually, more than 820,000 lives of children under five years of age could be saved if all children from 0 to 23 months of age were properly breastfed. Sadly, worldwide, nearly 2 out of 3 babies are not exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life as recommended.

World Breastfeeding Week 2023 is observed from August 1 to August 7

Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival. However, contrary to WHO recommendations, fewer than half of infants under 6 months old are exclusively breastfed.

Breastmilk is the ideal food for infants. It is safe, clean and contains antibodies which help protect against many common childhood illnesses. Breastmilk provides all the energy and nutrients that the infant needs for the first months of life, and it continues to provide up to half or more of a child’s nutritional needs during the second half of the first year, and up to one third during the second year of life. 

Breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests, are less likely to be overweight or obese and less prone to diabetes later in life. Women who breastfeed also have a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancers. 

Inappropriate marketing of breast-milk substitutes continues to undermine efforts to improve breastfeeding rates and duration worldwide.

In 2018, a World Health Assembly resolution endorsed World Breastfeeding Week as an important health promotion strategy. With a different theme each year, it aims to promote the enabling environments that help women to breastfeed – including support in the community and the workplace, with adequate protections in government policies and laws - as well as sharing information on breastfeeding benefits and strategies.

Let’s make breastfeeding and work, work!

• More than half a billion working women are not given essential maternity protections in national laws
• Just 20% of countries require employers to provide employees with paid breaks and facilities for breastfeeding or expressing milk
• Fewer than half of infants under 6 months of age are exclusively breastfed.
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• Similar article
• Breastfeeding: Angolan mothers and their babies (afronutri-online-angola.blogspot.com)
• https://afronutri-online-angola.blogspot.com/2023/01/angolan-mothers-and-their-babies.html