Irish Aid supports a Gender Rights driven nutrition program in Chemba District in Dodoma to reduce stunting in children under 5 years old.
As part of World Breastfeeding Week, 1st -7th August 2019, the Gender Driven Nutrition Program demonstrated how working mothers can protect their child’s and owns health by expressing breastmilk to facilitate exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of the child’s life.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that mothers exclusively breastfeed their infants for the first six months to achieve optimal growth, development, and health. Thereafter, they should be given nutritious complementary foods and continue breastfeeding up two years of age and beyond.
Continuing to breastfeed after returning to work is a challenge, especially for new mothers. Only 58% of Tanzanian mothers are able to exclusively breastfeed
for the first 6 months. As a result, most mothers who are in formal employment introduce complementary foods immediately after returning to work – much earlier than recommended.
Discontinuing breastfeeding after returning to work is attributed to insufficient and inappropriate pre-natal information and preparations. When asked about breastfeeding and returning to work, healthcare providers’ advice is often anecdotal rather than research based. Other reasons for discontinued breastfeeding include lack of resources, such as electricity and storage facilities (freezer/fridge); traveling long distance to work; inability to balance work with household chores and breastfeeding; and the general cultural acceptance of early initiation of complementary foods.
Mothers need the support of health care providers, spouses, family members and the employers to maintain a healthy balance. Unfortunately, many mothers are overwhelmed with many chores at home and at work hence having limited time to breastfeed. Mother can express milk (squeezing milk out of the breast) by hand or with a breast pump and store it for feeding the baby later.
Expressing breastmilk, even if it is not quite the same as the act of breastfeeding, ensures the baby always gets the very best in nutritional feeding while giving the mother more flexibility. The mother may be going back to work, her partner might like to be more involved in feeding their little one and whoever is left with the baby, can feed the baby breastmilk.
ANASTAZIA’s Story
One example is Anastasia Bimbiga, who is a working mother living in Dodoma, Chemba DC. Despite being a nutritionist who is well-informed on breastfeeding, she had to work out how to balance between work and choosing to exclusively breastfeed her baby. Anastasia has three children – two boys and a girl. She exclusively breastfed the boys for the first 6 months without any
