United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, says exclusive breastfeeding lowers risk of breast and ovarian cancers.
UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Philomena Irene, disclosed this at a Media dialogue on World Breastfeeding Week in Bauchi.
Philomena noted that breastfeeding encourages uterine contractions, helps in placenta expulsion, reduces uterine bleeding after birth and returns the uterus to pre-pregnancy size.
She therefore urged mothers to exclusively breastfeed their babies for the first six months, calling on governments and private employers to create an enabling environment for working mothers to breastfeed.
While delivering a good will message, Chief, UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, Tushar Rane, said exclusively breastfed children have six times greater chance to survive in early months, adding that they are fourteen times less likely to die before their first birthday.
High point of the Media dialogue on World breastfeeding week was sharing of experiences on balancing work and breastfeeding.
Working parents at the media dialogue advocated for breastfeeding spaces, lesser working hours, office support and need to fight stigma from colleagues during postnatal period.
World breastfeeding week is commemorated annually every first week of August.
The 2023 World breastfeeding week has as theme: enabling breastfeeding, making a difference for working parents.
