Kassena Nankana Municipal Health Directorate holds stakeholders’ meeting on breastfeeding
The stakeholders’ meeting formed part of activities to mark Exclusive Breastfeeding Awareness Month and aimed to encourage collective action toward reducing child malnutrition and improving child survival.
The Kassena Nankana Municipal Health Directorate, with support from partners, has organised a stakeholders’ meeting in Navrongo to promote exclusive breastfeeding and improve child nutrition.
The meeting which was held on August 22 at the Municipal Health Directorate in Navrongo, brought together key stakeholders to deliberate on strategies to improve breastfeeding and child health outcomes.
The Municipal Director of Health Services, Dr Edmund Mohammed Nyawura Nellic, stressed the importance of breastfeeding during the early stages of a child’s life.
“This breastfeeding, we want to actually champion it because we know that is what will make the future good for all of us. And the first thousand days of life are so crucial… starting from the pregnant woman through to her giving birth and getting to breastfeed within the first 30 minutes,” he said.
The Municipal Public Health Nurse, Afa Irene, who made a presentation on exclusive breastfeeding, identified cultural practices and workplace challenges as some of the barriers preventing mothers from practicing it fully.
“Some of the barriers compromising cultural beliefs that hinder breastfeeding. If we identify those cultural beliefs, together collectively we can change them to favour exclusive breastfeeding,” she noted.
She further appealed to the media, traditional leaders, and women’s groups to join hands in the campaign to promote exclusive breastfeeding in the Municipality.
“We are encouraging stakeholders, community leaders, chiefs, queen mothers, and all our women’s groups to champion this campaign. We want to build their capacity about the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding to the baby, the mother, the family and the community as well,” she added.
A representative of International Development Enterprise (iDE),Dorcas Amarteley Obeng, reinforced the need for workplace support for nursing mothers by sharing her personal experience with two employers.
“We the ladies, sometimes make life difficult for our fellow ladies and we have to stop. When I had my first child, my boss a lady told me at four months that the baby should start being independent. But when I had my second, my male boss insisted I should not leave the baby in the house. These experiences show why mothers need more support to practice exclusive breastfeeding,” she recounted.
The stakeholders’ meeting formed part of activities to mark Exclusive Breastfeeding Awareness Month and aimed to encourage collective action toward reducing child malnutrition and improving child survival across Kassena Nankana.
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