Anambra governor’s wife, Mrs Nonye Soludo, has explained that breast milk remains a mother’s greatest gift for her baby.
Mrs Soludo stated this while flagging off the 2024 World Breastfeeding Week at the Primary Health Care Centre, Amawbia, Awka South Local Government Area, over the weekend.
According to the governor’s wife, every mother has a natural responsibility to properly breastfeed their babies in a manner that takes their overall health priorities into right consideration, stating that the only way to achieve that is to adopt purely exclusive breastfeeding.
Mrs Soludo pointed out that the health and emotional benefits that exclusive breastfeeding serves are very important not just to the baby but to the mother and urged every household to adopt the practice.
She further stated that exclusive breastfeeding creates a strong bond between the mother and her child, and enables also enable them to beat certain dangerous diseases and as well save costs.
Mrs Soludo also encouraged households to
own organic gardens as a way of dealing with current food crises, eating healthy, and beating diseases.
Earlier in his remarks, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, pointed out that exclusive breastfeeding coverage in Anambra State is still not at the point of total satisfaction, explaining that the state government is passionate about the campaign to ensure every household understands its importance.
He noted that the ongoing free antenatal care and delivery services in Anambra State have also been important in pushing the programme, insisting that the government is constantly engaging with critical stakeholders to achieve optimum targets in exclusive breastfeeding indices.
On her part, the Executive Secretary of Anambra State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ASPHCDA), Pharmacist Chisom Uchem, said this year’s World Breastfeeding Week’s theme, “Closing the gap: Breastfeeding support for all,” calls for a more intense awareness to educate women on the need to adopt the practice, for their own sake and the overall betterment of the child’s health and development.
At the event, Mrs Soludo also gave out free organic seeds to support her ongoing seeds programme.
