Indore: 'Improper Breastfeeding Might  Leave A Child Undernourished’

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The ministry of women and child development announced its participation in the World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) campaign that aims to inform, anchor, engage and galvanize action on breastfeeding and related issues, through a week-long camp and awareness projects that concluded on Monday.

Officials said that lack of knowledge about proper breastfeeding techniques remains one of the biggest obstacles towards fighting malnutrition in the state, say WCD officials, who are in the forefront of the fight against malnutrition.

Informing lactating mothers about the correct way of breastfeeding is again in focus. Ramniwas Budholiya, joint director, WCD said that the awareness campaign was run throughout 1,837 anganwadis in the district with special 15 projects focused to enact the Infant-Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices at 72 anganwadi centres (AWCs)

One of the child development project officers informed Free Press that the department has noticed those children who fall in the severely malnourished category and keep on slipping into the category despite treatment have not been breastfed properly at an early age.

Budholiya added that the awareness camps can be a major factor in reducing the number of repetitive SAM and MAM entries because many mothers are unaware of the methods and importance of breastfeeding, which is a crucial cog in the fight against malnutrition.

During the campaign, the department was approached by various women's organisations who were interested to educate pregnant and lactating mothers about the initial rules of breastfeeding. 

Four golden rules promoted by WCD 

1. Initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of childbirth.

2. Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.

3. Adding supplements to diet after 6 months 

4. Breastfeeding must be continued till the child turns two.

Camps in Indore for breastfeeding 

For the last few months, there have been multiple camps organised by the department or by independent women’s organisations focusing on educating and informing rural women about the importance of breastfeeding. An official said that the main issue is unawareness and that rural women consider working all day to earn wages as more important than focusing on feeding their kids properly. 

Experts Say 

“Mother’s milk is a basic necessity of a child. A child needs to consume the mother’s milk within 6 hours of birth. Mother’s milk is responsible for providing proper nutrition to a child. If the child is not fed mother’s milk properly and regularly for 6 months, there is a chance that the child will become prone to poor health in the future.”

- Dr Tarun Gupta, paediatrician and district immunisation officer