By Murtala Muhammad
United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF has called on mothers in Bauchi state to ensure early initiation of breast milk, six months exclusive breastfeeding and twenty four months complementary feeding for their babies.
Chief of UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, Dr Nuzhat Rafeeq who made the call at a News Briefing in Bauchi, to commemorate 2025 World Breastfeeding Week, themed “Prioritise Breastfeeding: Create a Sustainable Support Systems”.
Dr Nuzhat Rafeeq said unless the mother is fully supported, she would hardly initiate breastmilk to newborn in the first one hour, practice exclusive breastfeeding and ensure complementary feeding for 24 months.
According to her, the importance of breastfeeding cannot be overemphasised as it protects the most against cancer, gives the child strong immunity and make their brain develop fast.
She expressed worry over the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2021 revelation, that Bauchi has only 26% compliance on Exclusive breastfeeding with 12% of early initiation of breastmilk to newborn in their first one hour of life.
UNICEF’s Nutrition Specialist, Mrs Philomena Irene emphasized the need to improve the state breastfeeding indices, noting that creating a sustainable support systems would go a long way in changing the narrative.
Mrs Irene urged mothers, families, communities and Bauchi state government to come together to ensure that babies were given breast milk immediately after birth.
Also speaking, the State Nutrition Officer, Abubakar Saleh Bara assured the state government’s commitment to creating a safe space for breastfeeding mothers in places of work.
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