FG considers Bill on compulsory breast-feeding

BY PETER OKUTU

ABAKALIKI – THE Federal Government, yesterday, said it was considering sending a bill to the National Assembly, which would promote and make breast feeding compulsory for all nursing mothers in the country.

Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, at the grand finale of the World Breast Feeding week in Ugbodo, Ebonyi Local Government Area of the state, said that the bill, when passed into law will stipulate appropriate sanctions for defaulting mothers.

He said the bill, which was still under consideration would seek to increase the number of months for maternity leave for lactating mothers as well as encourage husbands to fulfill their obligations to their wives during the period of lactation in the family.

“I agree with you that legislation can help in the area of stipulating that an employer, whether government or private give more time for maternity leave and we are thinking along that line. Another thing is for us to have a period, when the husbands, who have wives who are lactating can have time to assist their wives because it is important.”

The men must support but often times, what happens is that as the woman is giving birth, the man decides to go elsewhere to enjoy himself.

“He doesn’t give that psychological support to the woman. So we need to support our women to do the right thing. As you know, when you have a law and people are inside their house it becomes difficult to monitor. So what we are doing is even more important than the law,” he said.

Earlier, wife of Ebonyi State Governor, Mrs Josephine Elechi, said that breast milk was the best food for the baby as it contained all the essential nutrients required for growth and development of the child.

She noted that exclusive breast feeding for the first six months of child birth had been recognised as the single most effective intervention for child survival and reduction of under-5 mortality and morbidity.