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UNICEF urges support for Ghanaian working women to breastfeed

Xinhua, August 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has urged support for working women in Ghana where exclusive breastfeeding of infants has declined.

In a release issued on Thursday, UNICEF said working mothers must be supported to access benefits such as paid leave and conducive environment where breastfeeding breaks are allowed.

It said, of all the life-saving interventions for infants, breastfeeding had the most impact and was the most cost-effective.

Breastfeeding gives children the best start in life and studies have shown that investing in breastfeeding has a high rate of returns across national health, education and financial sectors.

However, in Ghana, modest gains made in the last two decades of exclusively breastfeeding infants have declined, with currently about 52 percent of babies being exclusively breastfed.

Babies who are not breastfed have a higher risk of illnesses and death than those that are breastfed.

For working mothers, a baby's right to breastfeed can be interrupted or hindered by a nursing mother's limited chances to combine breastfeeding with work due to lack of adequate support.

This year's World Breastfeeding week is calling attention to the challenges women face combining work with breastfeeding, and urges all governments and stakeholders to give women in the formal and informal sectors the support needed to succeed.

"Co-workers, employers, families and communities need to create and foster a dignified, enabling environment that allows working moms to do their work, to breastfeed and thus, do the best for their children," said Sarah Hague, UNICEF Representative Officer in Charge.

Breastfeeding can save health-care systems significant resources due to reduced illness among breastfed babies," the release said.

It called for supportive policies and comprehensive programs to optimize the benefits promised by exclusive breastfeeding.

"UNICEF and partners will continue to support government's effort at improving the health of mothers and children as well as providing the needed investment to provide children with a better and fairer chance to survive and thrive," the release added. Enditem