Vusumuzi Dube
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
WORLD Breastfeeding Week is held in the first week of August every year, supported by WHO, UNICEF and many Ministries of Health and civil society partners. The theme for 2024 is Closing the gap: Breastfeeding support for all.
The campaign will celebrate breastfeeding mums in all their diversity, throughout their breastfeeding journeys, while showcasing the ways families, societies, communities and health workers can have the back of every breastfeeding mum.
WHO is encouraging the population, this World Breastfeeding Week, to appreciate breastfeeding mums and ensure they get the support they need.
Breastfeeding support comes in many forms from staff welcoming breastfeeding in your local café to helpful advice from a health worker or maternity protections from your government. These all help protect the health and rights of women and babies.
Women everywhere have the right to respectful breastfeeding counselling from trained health care providers, as well as laws and policies like maternity leave and provisions like paid time off when you go back to work.
WHO also notes that the population can all help ensure women feel able to breastfeed anytime, anywhere and work to improve the position and condition of women at home, at work and in public life.
Dr Harrison Rambanapasi an obstetrician and gynaecologist spoke about colostrum and its advantages to a new-born baby.
“Colostrum is the yellowish milk produced by a nursing mother in the first 2-3 days after childbirth. Its produced in very small quantities (30-60mls per day), but you do not need to worry. That should be enough for your baby. Colostrum is very rich in antibodies (at least 20) that help the baby to fight bacteria such as E. Coli, staphylococcus and so on. In fact, this is one of the most important functions of colostrum, probably more important than its nutritional function,” he said.
Dr Rambanapasi said Colostrum is richer in proteins, vitamins (A, E, K), minerals than ordinary breast milk and it also has several substances that prepares the new-born baby to absorb and utilise the nutrients called growth factors.
He said the composition of colostrum may be affected by the mother’s nutritional status and diabetes mellitus.
@NyembeziMu
Online Reporter