Lagos State Government has called for support from employers, management, superiors and co-workers in terms of positive attitude towards motherhood and breastfeeding for successful breastfeeding practice by women in the work setting.

 

Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Modele Osunkiyesi who stated this today at a briefing signaling the commencement of Breastfeeding Week Celebration in Lagos noted that job security and non-discrimination on the ground of maternity and breastfeeding should be encouraged by employers.

 

Osunkiyesi opined that the promotion and success of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six (6) months of life without any other additives requires the collective support of all including employers of labour, community and religious leaders, nursing fathers and mothers, family members and associations for the breastfeeding mothers.

 

She added that the year 2015 breastfeeding week seeks to engage with target groups’ like the Trade Unions, Workers Rights Organisations, Women’s groups and Youth groups, to protect the breastfeeding rights of women in the workplace.

 

According to her, “Time, Space and Support are the three elements needed to ensure successful breastfeeding by women in any kind of work setting. Speaking on the issue, she advocated six months paid maternity leave to support exclusive breastfeeding in systems where the maternity leave is less than three months and flexible or daily reduction of working hours for working mothers to ensure un-interrupted breastfeeding”.

 

Osunkiyesialsonotedthat the space element seeks to advocate for theprovision of a designated environmentally friendly space or place at or near the work place for infant and child feeding.

 

The Permanent Secretary added that the realization that breastfeeding is the most cost beneficial investment in child survival and development strategies is the rationale behind the political will for baby friendly policies practiced by the State Government.

 

 

She said “Lagos State Government has taken the lead in the actualization of baby friendly policies for women in her workforce by institutionalizing a six months Maternity Leave for all nursing female workers for first two births. In like manner, the State Government also approved Paternity Leave of two weeks for all working fathers in its employ in realization of the need for psychological support for nursing mothers”.

 

She noted the theme for this year’s World Breastfeeding Week Celebration: ‘Breastfeeding and Work: Let’s Make It Work’, calls for concerted global action to support women to combine breastfeeding and work as women empowerment should not interfere with the baby’s right to breastfeed.

 

The Permanent Secretary added that the objectives of this year’s World Breastfeeding Week include; to galvanize multi- dimensional support from all sectors to enable women everywhere to work and breastfeed; to Promote actions by employers to become Family, Parent, Baby and Mother-Friendly and to actively facilitate and support employed women to continue breastfeeding.

 

She listed other objectives as including; informing people about the latest in global Maternity Protection entitlements, raising awareness of the need to strengthen related national legislation and implementation as well as show casing supportive practices that enable women working in the informal sector to breastfeed.

 

The Permanent Secretary, who posited that the increase in civilization and women engagement for work outside their homes further contributes to the reduction in the length of breastfeeding of infants and young children, opined that breastfeeding culture needs to be revived as a matter of urgency.

 

She added that the realization of this has made concerted efforts to be devoted to the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding worldwide by the World Alliance of Breastfeeding Action (WABA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and World Health Organization (WHO) amongst others.

 

Giving statistics on exclusive breastfeeding week, Osunkiyesi noted that exclusive breastfeeding rate in the first six months of life in Lagos State according to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2011(MICS, 2011) is 28% which is still very low when compared with the benefits of breastfeeding to infant and young child growth and development.

 

“Additionally, data has shown that 99% of children in Lagos State were ever breastfed; out of this number, only 62.8% of the children were breastfed within one day of birth according to MICS, 2011. This implies that the rate of early initiation of breastfeeding is also low”, the Permanent Secretary posited.

 

Osunkiyesi pointed out that this year’s Breastfeeding Week Celebration will hold in the first week of August, 2015. She encouraged residents to make use of Maternal and Child Survival Services available in all public health facilities during this period and thereafter as mothers will be encouraged and enlightened on the promotion and support for early initiation of breastfeeding (immediately after delivery), exclusive breastfeeding practice, continuous breastfeeding with complementary feeding from 6months up to two years of age, and proffering of solutions to breastfeeding issues and challenges during this week and beyond.

 

Signed

Adeola Salako (Mrs)

Director, Information