Physician seeks legislative backing for national breastfeeding policy

A public health physician and field epidemiologist with bias for reproductive health and HIV/AIDS Control, Dr. Uloaku Emma-Ukaegbu, has lamented that despite the extant national breastfeeding policy and the 2015-2020 Action Plan, there is no legislative backing to support their implementation in the country.

In a lecture titled, ‘The Productive Woman: Breastfeeding in the Workplace,” at the maiden seminar by the Gender Implementation Unit (GIU) at the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Abia State, to mark the World Breastfeeding week, Emma-Ukaegbu said that although women account for 25 million out of the 46 million workforce in Nigeria, only about nine per cent of the country’s organisations have workplace breastfeeding policy.

She added that only 1.5 per cent of the policy was in the public sector, adding that it is almost non-existent in the private sector.

She also noted that only seven out of the 36 states in Nigeria provide six months fully paid maternity leave pointing out that only about 34 per cent of children below the age of six are exclusively breastfed as against the 70 per cent targeted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) by 2030.

The physician described exclusive breastfeeding as the practice of giving an infant only breast-milk for the first six months of life, stating that it is a win-win set up for family, nursing mother, employee and baby.

According to Emma-Ukaegbu, employees who feel supported in their breastfeeding are more likely to be loyal and productive.

“There is evidence today that every N1,000 invested in supporting breastfeeding can yield an estimated N35,000 in economic returns for Nigeria, as available data shows that improved breastfeeding could save over 100,000 children’s lives and 22 million dollars in healthcare treatment costs that are related to inadequate breastfeeding,” she added.

Earlier in his opening speech at the one-day seminar, NRCRI Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Chiedozie Egesi, said his gender responsive administration remains committed to sustaining an enabling environment for nursing mothers.

Egesi disclosed that he would establish a baby-friendly breastfeeding centre in the institute to carter for babies, thus giving their mothers room to work and also nurture them. He, however, encouraged them to remain focused and productive and not be deterred by pregnancy and breastfeeding phases.

Also speaking at the event, the institute’s Director, GIU, Dr. Tessy Madu, reiterated that the seminar was organised to create awareness and impart necessary knowledge on optimal breastfeeding practices and support on pregnant and nursing mothers for productivity in a conducive environment.