Bauchi State Government is considering a law that will mandate all its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to create creches and reduce nursing mothers’ working hours to enable them to attend to their babies.
Speaking at Breastfeeding Week activities, yesterday, Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA), Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, expressed the government’s concern about the health of infants.
Mohammed said: “We are considering a bill, which is on the Head of Service’s desk, that all MDAs must provide creches for working-class mothers. The second one is that Governor Bala Mohammed is telling all the heads of the agencies to consider breastfeeding mothers for flexible work hours for six months.
“They can close by 01.00p.m. and continue breastfeeding at home. Third, we want to encourage four to six months of maternity leave, in collaboration with our partners. Also, governors’ wives, in their Abuja meeting recently, agreed to encourage six months maternity leave.”
Nutrition Specialist with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Philomena Irene, said: “In Bauchi State, only 26.4 per cent of children aged zero to five months are exclusively breastfed, according to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2021 report. While the world is on track to reach the 2025 target of 50 per cent exclusive breastfeeding rate, Bauchi needs to do more.
“One of the primary barriers to breastfeeding or early cessation of breastfeeding is the prevalence of workplace challenges. Women require sufficient time and support to breastfeed successfully. Women with less than three months of maternity leave tend to have shorter breastfeeding duration than those with three or more months of leave.” She urged the state to grant civil servants six months maternity leave and 14 days paternity leave.
Speaking on behalf of all United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded agencies, Country Director of Advancing Nutrition, Mrs. Philomena Orji, pledged the agency’s commitment towards providing safe space for working mothers in the state.
“USAID remains committed to supporting the Bauchi government in providing safe space for working-class mothers in all working areas, in line with all relevant provisions. Providing breast milk to children in line with best practices is a way for our babies to be healthy and for a productive workforce of the future.”
