Enugu state first lady advocates for exclusive breastfeeding

On Aug 2, 2023

The wife of the governor of Enugu State, Mrs Nkechinyere Mbah, has advocated for nursing mothers to engage in exclusive breastfeeding for their babies, saying it would help them grow healthy. Mbah made the call when she paid a visit to the Maternity Ward of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) Teaching Hospital, Park Lane, on Tuesday, as part of activities marking World Breastfeeding Week (WBW).

She also donated childcare items and cash to the nursing mothers and paid the medical bills of those, who had been held in the hospital due their inability to defray the bills.

“The governor has mapped out plans to reform the health sector to make it more qualitative and affordable. The governor , equally has special interest to improve quality of maternal, infant, and child healthcare in the state,” she said.

Mbah also said that exclusive and extended breastfeeding was not easy, but it is something nursing mothers have to do for their babies to boosts their immune system.

Speaking, the Chief Nursing Officer, Post-Natal Ward of the hospital, Rosemary Osuoji thanked the governor’s wife for the cash gifts to nursing mothers. She also appreciated Mbah for settling the medical bills of some mothers, who had been discharged but could not afford hospital bills due to financial constraints.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Enugu State Ministry of Health, Dr Ifeanyi Agujiob noted that the state government was working on increasing maternity leave in the state from four to six months.

“Today marks the beginning of World Breastfeeding Week. The emphasis is on exclusive breastfeeding to make sure that women that have just delivered implement the policy so that the immune systems of the babies will be well built. The infants will be free from neonatal diseases and infection. Presently, nursing mothers are entitled to four months maternity leave, but we are currently working through the Office of the Head of Service to see if that could be increased to six months of fully paid maternity leave”, he explained.

Also speaking, the Chief Medical Director of ESUT Teaching Hospital, Dr Hyacinth Onah, thanked the wife of the governor for her magnanimity and for her encouraging words to the nursing mothers, reiterating that exclusive breastfeeding makes the children healthier.

The WBW which is an annual celebration which is held every year from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7 in more than 120 countries is supported by WHO, UNICEF and many Ministries of Health and civil society partners. Every year the global campaign focuses on a particular theme-related theme. The theme for WBW 2023 is “Let’s make breastfeeding and work, work.”

Wumi/NAN