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Elizabeth B. Mupfumira Correspondent
The issue of exclusive breastfeeding, which is feeding infants only breast-milk in the first six months of life, is fraught with contradictions, misinformation and socio-cultural beliefs.
There is conflicting information on whether mothers should incorporate solid food before six months; whether HIV-positive mothers should breastfeed their babies at all; breastfeed while pregnant (kuyamwira); the traditional herbal concoctions sometimes given to newborns; and whether newborns should be soothed by giving them regular water to “quench” their thirst and cooking oil for colic.

Regardless of these misperceptions and assumptions, one thing is fundamentally clear and scientifically proven, exclusive breastfeeding is the single most important investment that a parent can make in fulfilling their obligation to ensure the survival, nutrition, health, and development of their baby.

Zimbabwe joined the rest of the world last week in commemorating World Breastfeeding Week under the theme “Breastfeeding: A winning goal -for life!” in a continued effort to promote optimal infant and young child feeding practices which include exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life and continued breastfeeding up to 24 months.

With only 31 percent of mothers currently exclusively breastfeeding their children, Zimbabwe has a long way to go in encouraging mothers to embrace this practice.
This is especially critical now when, according to the Zimbabwe Demographic Household Survey (ZDHS) 2010/11, 32 percent of children in Zimbabwe are stunted (too short for their age).

Globally, the number of children under the age of five who die every year from preventable causes has declined by a remarkable 47 percent, nearly 7 million young children still die every year, and over 40 percent of those children are newborns.

Exclusive breastfeeding and continued breastfeeding up to two years has the potential to reduce child deaths by 13 percent.
The importance of exclusive breastfeeding cannot be overemphasised.

Early initiation of breast milk within the first hour of life can significantly reduce neo-natal deaths, especially among pre-term babies; it also has the biggest impact in protecting babies against diarrhoea and pneumonia.

According to the WHO 2013 guidelines, HIV-positive mothers should exclusively breastfeed their children for the first six months due to the nutrients, agents and antibodies that protect the infant from the risk of childhood diseases such as diarrhoea and due to the HIV neutralising antibodies that are released by some B cells that are present in breast milk.

Exclusive breastfeeding supports healthy brain development, improves cognitive performance and is associated with better educational achievement.
Later on in life, breastfed infants have a lowered risk of several chronic conditions compared to artificially-fed infants, including asthma, diabetes, heart disease and cardiac risk factors such as hypertension and high cholesterol levels as well as cancers such as childhood leukaemia and breast cancer later in life. In this way, breastfeeding allows all children to thrive and develop to their full potential.

Yet, less than 70 percent of the Zimbabwe’s newborns benefit from early breastfeeding and even fewer are exclusively breastfed for the first six months.
There now needs to be a strong and urgent national effort to not only promote the importance and benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, but to also create a conducive and enabling environment for those mothers who have the desire to exclusively breastfeed.

Many working mothers return to work when their baby is three months old which creates a barrier to the practice because most employers do not have baby friendly environments, and some mothers fail to express their milk during working hours.

By passing legislation that obliges companies to provide means for mothers to express their milk in a private and dignified environment, more mothers will be able to breastfeed exclusively for much longer.

The author is a Communications Specialist at UNICEF. For comments and contributions, e-mail [email protected]