Despite the challenges faced by
working mothers in adhering to
exclusive breast feeding for
their babies and others,
doctors advice that it remains
the best. A professional in the
business has even disclosed
that it helps women to loose
weight faster that they could
imagine…
When Mrs. Bukola Ajao, an
accounts officer, started
bringing her four-month old
baby to her work place, it
seemed like a convenient
compromise, until he developed
cold, cough and catarrh barely
two weeks after.
“Every night afterwards, he
would cry due to the stress of
taking him out early every
morning,” she recollected.
After that episode, she
immediately stopped taking him
to the office.
Although she had not planned
to, Mrs. Ajao’s hectic work
schedules had forced her into
this arrangement because she
wanted to be able to continue
the recommended six-month
period of exclusive
breastfeeding for her baby, as
her doctor had advised. So
whenever she could not
breastfeed her baby she used
baby, formula.
“I breastfeed him in the
morning before I leave home
and at night when I return from
work. I also make sure he is
exclusively breast fed during
the weekends. Although I would
have loved to do it all the time,
I can’t because I am a working
and nursing mother. When you
know the kind of situation you
are faced with, you have to find
another way out,” she explained.
Like Mrs. Ajao, many working
and nursing mothers in Nigeria
are facing this situation of
compromise when it comes to
exclusive breastfeeding for
their babies because of their
busy work schedules and the
stress that comes with it.
While the use of baby formula
seem like a convenient way out,
it is not advisable, said Dr.
Sunday Olanrewaju, a
gynaecologist, who noted that
exclusive breast feeding meant
breast feeding babies from
birth to the first six months of
life without adding any
supplements or other food.
According to the World Health
Organisation, exclusive
breastfeeding is recommended
up to six months of age, with
continued breastfeeding along
with appropriate
complementary foods up to two
years of age or beyond.
“Colostrum, the yellowish,
sticky breast milk produced at
the end of pregnancy, is the
perfect food for the new-born,
and feeding should be initiated
within the first hour after
birth,” it stated.
Dr. Olanrewaju agreed and
added that not only is
breastfeeding essential for a
baby’s growth, it is also very
good for the baby’s brain
development, especially in the
second year. “Breast milk is a
natural source of food for the
baby and it is important for the
baby’s growth and development
because it contains cells and
antibodies that prevent
infections.”
He further explained that
breastfeeding is beneficial
because it helps the mother and
her baby to bond well. “It also
helps the mother to lose excess
weight gained during pregnancy.
It is also good for the economy
of the family as it saves them a
lot of money used in buying
baby formula,” he said, adding
that a family could spend up to
N100,000 or more buying baby
formula in a year. Some
mothers spend between N3,000
and N6,000 or more monthly,
depending on the brand of baby
formula. This amount increases
as the baby grows.
This is where the breast pump,
a device used to extract milk
from the breast of a lactating
woman, comes to the rescue.
Working and nursing mothers
use it to ‘express’ their breast
milk into a bottle that can be
used for storage and feeding.
It should be stored in the
refrigerator at a temperature
between four and ten degrees
Celsius, noted Dr. Olanrewaju.
“Because it can be stored for
up to six to eight hours at the
right temperature, the baby
can feed on this until the
mother returns from work.
Then, she can feed the baby
directly from her breasts when
she gets back home,” he said.
However, expressing breast
milk comes with its own
additional cost, like Mrs. Ajao
found out when she first tried
using the breast pump after she
gave birth. “I had to stop
because I couldn’t maintain
preserving it in the
refrigerator due to lack of
electricity,” she complained.
Expressed breast milk could go
stale if it is not properly
stored under the right
temperature conditions,
because just as with any other
type of food, this allows the
growth of bacteria, Olanrewaju
explained.
Despite the country’s
electricity problems, using
breast pumps has been helpful
for some others, especially
when they can also afford the
extra cost of fuelling their
generators to keep the breast
milk well refrigerated and
fresh.
This was what helped Dayo
Adekunle, a nursing mother who
just finished her mandatory
one-year National Youth
Service Corp scheme, to
breastfeed her now one-year
old baby exclusively for the
first six months before she
introduced him to formula milk.
Beyond using breast pumps,
medical experts advise mothers
to maintain good hygiene while
breastfeeding their babies.
These include washing their
hands, sterilising the bottles
and pump parts and
immediately storing their
breast milk to keep it fresh.
Despite the challenges, working
and nursing mothers face in
keeping up with breastfeeding
medical experts have advised
that they at least maintain the
recommended six months of
exclusive breast feeding,
because of its many health
benefits. “No baby formula milk
can compare with breast milk
because it contains antibodies
to protect the baby from
infections. It has been
scientifically proven that
babies who are not exclusively
breast fed have morbidities
such as diarrhoea, upper
respiratory tract infections,
bacterial meningitis and other
diseases. They are also prone to
having more allergies,” said Dr.
Dorka Bekee, a paediatrician.
Although it is not 100 per cent
guaranteed, the period of
breastfeeding could also serve
as a form of family planning,
added Dr Olanrewaju. “This is
because breastfeeding
increases the secretion of the
prolactin hormone – which helps
the breast to produce milk –
and also inhibits ovulation.
Some women don’t even see
their menses during breast
feeding,” he said.
While Dr. Bekee advised that
nursing mothers should eat well
to be able to produce enough
milk for the baby, this may pose
another challenge for a working
and nursing mother as they may
not be able to properly
breastfeed their babies after a
hectic day’s job, especially if
they put in long working hours.


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