By Rachel Kakraba
Executive Director of Women, Media and Change (WOMEC), Dr Charity Binka, has called for the establishment of baby-friendly facilities in hospitals, workplaces and other institutions to support breastfeeding mothers. She stressed that dedicating a room for breastfeeding in offices requires minimal investment compared to the immense benefits of breastfeeding and breast milk for both mother and child.
“If I give birth in the hospital, there must be a facility for me to be able to breastfeed. In our offices, too, we want to see that we can just dedicate one room for breastfeeding. I don’t think it’s too much of an investment given the benefits of breastfeeding and breast milk,” she said.
Dr Binka was speaking during a webinar organised by WOMEC in partnership with the Eleanor Crook Foundation, as part of activities to commemorate this year’s World Breastfeeding Week. She proposed the integration of breastfeeding targets into national nutrition education and social protection strategies. Dr Binka also called for a dedicated budget line to fund breastfeeding promotion and support activities across the country to ensure sustainability.
“We are also saying that we should make sure we integrate breastfeeding targets into national nutrition education and social protection strategies, and there must be a dedicated budget line for all this,” she added.
Giving a brief overview of “The Nourish Ghana Project”, Dr Binka said the initiative seeks to create a platform for dialogue to strengthen national policy action on nutrition by advocating for increased leadership, funding and accountability.
“WOMEC is running the project in partnership with the Ghana Health Service, in a bid to enhance national advocacy efforts to influence nutrition policies and budget allocations,” she said.
She noted that some stakeholders have already been engaged to develop responsive nutrition interventions.
“We’ve already started engaging parliamentarians. We are planning to have a dialogue with them when they come back from recess in October. Some of them are willing to make statements on the floor of Parliament on nutrition, which we are very excited about. Our aim is to engage them to ensure sustained political commitment to nutrition financing, and also to leverage media and CSOs to conduct nationwide awareness campaigns on nutrition for women,” she said.
Senior Lecturer and Registered Dietitian at the Department of Dietetics, University of Ghana, Legon, Dr Laurene Boateng, said research has revealed that mothers in the Savannah and Volta regions devote more time to breastfeeding their babies, while mothers in the Western North, Western and Greater Accra regions spend the least time breastfeeding.
“The shortest durations are in the Western North region, the Western region itself, and of course, Greater Accra. Those feeding for the longest are in the Savannah region and the Volta region. That calls for a lot of concern when it comes to promoting breastfeeding in Ghana,” she said.
Dr Boateng pointed out that barriers to exclusive breastfeeding include socio-economic factors, shifts in cultural norms, and health-related challenges.
Deputy Director of the Nutrition Division at the Ghana Health Service, Olivia Timpo, mentioned some strategies for improving breastfeeding outcomes, such as training health workers to provide guidance to mothers at child welfare clinics and outreach points.
“The young child feeding strategy is a key nutritional intervention that ensures we train our health workers to provide guidance to mothers at child welfare clinics and outreach points. During antenatal and postnatal care, the strategy also serves as a guide for interventions for optimal infant and young child feeding,” she said.
Madam Timpo also called for strict enforcement of LI 1667, which prohibits the marketing of breast milk substitutes to protect breastfeeding from commercial influence.
“The legislative instrument, 1667, prohibits the marketing of breast milk substitutes and specifically regulates the marketing of breast milk substitutes to protect breastfeeding from commercial influence,” she said.
She added that the Service also runs initiatives that provide mothers with information and skills to support them in breastfeeding, and implements community-based interventions where community health nurses undertake advocacy and sensitisation drives to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year in the first week of August, championed by WHO, UNICEF, Ministries of Health, and civil society partners around the globe. It is a time to recognise breastfeeding as a powerful foundation for lifelong health, development, and equity.
