When it is best to start breastfeeding
What you need to know:
Babies were being deprived of essential nutrients, antibodies and skin-to-skin contact with their mothers that protect them from disease and death.
Dar es Salaam. About half the number of newly born babies in the country is not breastfed in their first hour, subjecting them to a number of health implications, according to the UN Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef).
Quoting data from the 2014 Tanzania National Nutrition Survey, Unicef said in a statement on Friday that the babies were being deprived of essential nutrients, antibodies and skin-to-skin contact with their mothers that protect them from disease and death. “In some regions, including Tabora, Geita, Shinyanga, Rukwa and Katavi, the level is even lower, at less than 25 per cent,” reads part of the statement.
Unicef Representative in Tanzania Maniza Zaman said: “For many different reasons, including cultural norms and the lack of knowledge, women are not receiving the support they need to start breastfeeding immediately after the baby is born.”
About 40 per cent of children under six months old were exclusively breastfed in 2014.
