Call to create awareness about breastfeeding

PATNA: This year's World Breastfeeding Week's theme is 'Talk to me!" Breastfeeding -- a 3D experience' and it was kick-started on August 1.
The week-long programme aims to protect, promote and support breastfeeding and create awareness amongst mothers and their family members about benefits that accrue from breastfeeding. Keeping this in view, the state government has taken several initiatives to encourage breastfeeding.
State Health Society (SHS) executive director Sanjay Kumar said, "The main objective of the week-long celebration is to make people aware of breastfeeding benefits through health workers, including Asha personnel, Anganwadi Sevikas and auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs)."
He said that the stress is on counselling of mothers and expected mothers and their immediate family members to encourage breastfeeding within one hour of the child's birth till the baby is six months old, and continued breastfeeding with an addition of nutritious complementary food for up to two years or beyond.
The programme also envisages encouraging the use of new media to reach larger numbers of people with breastfeeding information, he said, adding creating and increasing communication channels between different sectors so breastfeeding information and feedback can be accessed and enhanced.
Kumar said that active participation of young people and engaging grandmothers and older family members for promoting breastfeeding would broaden the scope of breastfeeding advocacy.
Noted paediatrician and in-charge of Bihar affairs of Breastfeeding Promotion Network, India, Dr A K Thakur said, "When we look at breastfeeding support, we tend to see it in two dimensions -- time (from pre-pregnancy to weaning) and place (the home, community and health care system). But neither has much impact without a third dimension -- communication -- as it is an essential part as far as protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding is concerned, he said.
"This year we are asking each of you to reach out, through any and all communication channels open to you, and share the messages needed to empower every woman and every community, to succeed in optimal breastfeeding," Dr Thakur said.