The National Child Development Agency (NCDA) has revealed that Rwanda tops global rankings in adhering to recommended breastfeeding.
Every year, from August 1-8, the world celebrates the breastfeeding day, because the practice is vital, not only to children, but also to their mothers. Unfortunately, due to hassles of this era, women are resigning to breastfeeding, and it has become a preoccupation of many countries to stage campaigns towards the challenge.
The target is for the world to achieve at least 50% of women who achieve breastfeeding, but as far as individual countries are concerned, Rwanda defied the odds.
Rwanda comes on the first position of countries which have achieved proper breastfeeding in the first six months of a child.
Faustin Machara, in charge of child and mother nutrition said that the country owes this success to Rwanda’s culture of breastfeeding.
“We have good performance in breastfeeding especially in the first six months of life where a child requires breast milk uniquely. Other countries are struggling to reach 50% of women who can achieve breastfeeding for six months, but Rwanda could make 80.9 per cent of the women achieving that in 2000 and reaching 87 per cent in 2015,” Machara said.
“We are leading because breastfeeding is a culture in Rwanda.”
Machara said that breastfeeding is important in the life of a child because breast milk is the only food his digestive system can afford. Breast milk has nutritional values that allow a child to reach that stage of six months without requiring any other supplement.
A child can breastfeed at any time of the day, but nutritionists recommend a minimum of eight times breastfeeding daily or every two to three hours.
At birth, a child should be put to breast milk right away, because that first feeding is vital to their life. That first breastfeeding includes a huge quantity of water intake followed by very nutritious breast milk.
Proper breastfeeding spares the child from diseases, including hydration, and pneumonia and protects the mother against bleeding, cervical and breast cancer respectively and enhances child-mother’s affection.
Meanwhile, reduction in proper breastfeeding is also being noticed in Rwanda, due to several preoccupation of parents who are so busy these days.
Rwanda’s policy to face this challenge is to encourage employers to build mothers’ rooms at workplace where parents are able to have their children for breastfeeding.
Some parents also need to be aware of proper breastfeeding.
Studies revealed that a child who benefited proper breastfeeding is brighter than the one who did not. The one who benefited can get between 4 to seven marks more than the one who did not, thus a call for parent to proper breastfeeding.
The norm is six months without any supplement to breastmilk and to proceed with additional food intake while keeping breastfeeding for at least two years.
In terms of work, Rwanda’s labor law provides for 14 week maternity leave to enhance breastfeeding practices.
