Feature by Christabel Addo
Accra, Oct. 29, GNA – Breastfeeding is the most perfect gift that every new mother can give to her baby to satisfy thirst and hunger. Most importantly, it is also to ensure the survival and healthy development of the child from birth.
Thus, in the wisdom of God, the initial flow of a mother’s breastmilk after childbirth is enriched with a yellowish substance called colostrum, which contains antibodies produced by her body to serve as the infant’s first vaccine. It is a strategic immune booster, protecting against common childhood illnesses and infant deaths.
Consequently, UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO), recommend early initiation of Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) of infants from the first one hour of birth until six months old, and sustaining the practice together with complementary feeding for two years and beyond, as the most effective and least costly life saver ever.
Dr Isabella Sagoe-Moses, the Deputy Director for Reproductive and Child Health, at Ghana Health Service (GHS), says breastfeeding has a larger impact on women’s health than previously appreciated.
She explains that apart from being nature’s blessing regarding quality food and water for babies, breastfeeding stabilises infants, especially those born pre-term, and further mitigates the mother’s hypertensive heart disease impact. It also prevents the onset of breast and cervical cancers and other stress-related challenges in women.
A study by the Harvard Medical School in 2016, on EBF also shows that for every 597 women who optimally breastfeed one maternal or child death is prevented. Therefore, policies and programmes to increase optimal breastfeeding can result in considerable public health gains.
FALSEHOOD ABOUT COVID-19 JAB AND BREASTFEEDING
Notwithstanding, recent social media misinformation and claims that breastfeeding mothers can be infected through the COVID-19 vaccine and pass on the virus to infants through breastmilk to increase the mortality rates. Thus, the lives and futures of millions of children globally, are being threatened by this falsehood.
Ms Emilia Addy (not her real name), a 31-year-old breastfeeding mother told the Ghana News Agency in Accra, that she refused to take the COVID-19 jab when she was eight month old pregnant, having been influenced by the social media misinformation, that the vaccine can cause foetal deformities and the virus transmitted through breastmilk.
“I was afraid it will harm my baby so I initially refused to take the jab,” she said. Fortunately, her midwife was convincing enough in educating her on the truth about the misleading stories, and the immense benefits of vaccination and breastfeeding.
Emilia says she would have missed a sound opportunity to protect herself, her baby, and others around her from the effect of the pandemic, and also the future prospects of her child.
Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director-General of the GHS, says such falsehood tends to interfere with the benefits and success of these two key activities being EBF practice and the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and uptake.
This is because lactating mothers who are ill-informed and lack the right support, are unlikely to breastfeed or accept the COVID-19 jab due to fear and uncertainty, thus contributing to the vaccine uptake hesitancy gap nationally and globally, he said.
He says the WHO has ample data and documented evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines do not contain the virus, and Coronavirus does not seem to spread to babies through a mother’s breastmilk. “Rather on the good side, the antibodies produced by the mother and passed on to the baby serve as a vaccine for protection”.
Again, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), also recommends that breastfeeding mothers remain fully vaccinated, as the current COVID-19 vaccines provide strong protection against serious illness and death caused by the Omicron and Delta variants of the virus, and help to reduce the likelihood of new variants emerging.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye explains that immunization as a global health and development success story saves millions of lives annually, and contrary to these false claims, “vaccines reduce risks of getting diseases by working with your body’s natural defenses to build protection.”
The seasoned Health Expert affirms the safety of breastfeeding after COVID-19 vaccination, saying the only occasion that a doctor can advise a mother not to breastfeed is when she is very ill, otherwise with just a cold or flu, she can still perfectly cover her nose with a mask to avoid coughing or sneezing on her baby while breastfeeding, and also adhering to all the hygiene protocols.
BREASTFEEDING PRACTICE
Dr Kuma-Aboagye says public education on the impact of optimal breastfeeding is being enhanced as it is key to achieving sustainable development strategies post-pandemic, food security, and reducing inequalities between and within countries, hence the need to sustain the practice to harness the immense benefits.
The Director-General concedes that support for mothers is important throughout the breastfeeding journey in different arenas including health facilities, homes, workplaces, and communities. This is to ease the physical and mental stress in their efforts to sustain the supply of milk, enduring sleepless nights to feed babies, and missing out on other events like hanging out with friends.
He spoke about the renewed efforts by the government and its partners to enhance the capacities of healthcare workers to provide flexible key support services including home care, to new mothers and vulnerable groups, particularly within deprived communities to ensure a consistent and authentic supply of information.
LEGISLATION
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child emphasises good nutrition as a fundamental human right of every infant and child and provides a firm base for its promotion such as their right to survival and development.
Ghana’s Breastfeeding Promotion Regulation, (2000), also prohibits the promotion and sale of designated products such as infant formula, feeding bottles, teats, and pacifiers, in and around any healthcare facility, or the distributes free educational materials or supplies to these facilities. This closes all loopholes to outwit the provisions of the International Breastfeeding Code.
STATISTICS
Dr Francis Kasolo, the WHO Country Representative, says although some progress has been made globally, with a 50 percent increase in the exclusive breastfeeding rates over the past 40 year. Yet only 44 percent of babies are exclusively breastfed globally, and under nutrition accounts for 45 per cent of child deaths (WHO, 2022).
The progress has not been uniform across countries because, as some countries have experienced a gradual increase while others. “Currently just about half of the Ghanaian children are initiated to breastfeeding within one hour of birth, and only 43 per cent of infants under six months of age are exclusively breastfed,” he said.
Dr Kasolo says current global emergencies and disease outbreaks including the COVID-19 pandemic, pose a threat to the health of many infants and children, and breastfeeding becomes even more critical for their survival and well-being.
Mr Fiachra McAsey, the UNICEF Representative Officer-in-Charge, says despite the accrued short and long-term benefits of EBF “sadly, millions of children in Ghana are missing out on this opportunity, which negatively affects their nutritional wellbeing, bodies, their brains, and their future as healthy and productive citizens”.
He says without a change in practice, the country is unlikely to meet the World Health Assembly and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to increase EBF rates in Ghana from 43 to 65 percent by 2025.
Dr Kofi Issah, the Director of Family Health, GHS, says “Ghana’s breastfeeding journey has not been without challenges,” stressing that the actions and inactions of a group of individuals surrounding new mothers and their babies can make breastfeeding successful or a failure.
According to him, the country has over the years worked hard, and continues to do so to ensure that its children start off right, citing the ‘Start right, feed right’ campaign as one of the key drives to improve the rates of breastfeeding in general, and EBF for six months in particular.
“The health system will continue to ensure that policies and strategies we pursue inure to the benefit of all our infants,” he said.
Breastfeeding is a shared responsibility and requires massive stakeholder support to mothers, caregivers, and families, and also improved investments for enhancing optimal breastfeeding programmes, to foster the right enabling environment in the long term, especially for the most vulnerable families.
GNA