Women to made aware of importance of breast-feeding

Bhopal, July 29 (UNI) As a part of a pilot project of the Woman and Child Development Department, women would be made aware about the benefits of breast-feeding within an hour of childbirth.

Sixty young women -- 46 girls seeking master degree in nutrition, dieticians, child development and human resources development etc from the local Sarojini Naidu Government Post-graduate college and 14 supervisors of Integrated Child Development Project -- will take up the task of making women aware.

These supervisors have already been imparted training in infant young child feeding practice, an official release here said.

The project would be implemented during the 16th World Breast Feeding Week from August 1 to 7.

Besides government hospitals in Bhopal, 30 private hospitals connected to the Janani Suraksha Yojna have been included in this project.

Two students would be stationed as volunteers during the week from morning to evening in each hospital to educate expectant mothers admitted in the hospital about the necessity of breast-feeding within an hour after childbirth.

Besides clearing misconceptions, the students would ensure proper way of breast-feeding with the assistance of health workers and midwives in the hospitals.

Private hospitals had been divided into three groups of ten each and two supervisors and two monitors had been stationed to monitor the activities of volunteers, who have been provided with a prescribed form to pen down daily activities.

At the end of the week on August 8, compiled works of the volunteers would be evaluated and analysed. On the basis of this, work would be extended to outstanding volunteers for the next one year.

Moreover, there is a plan to implement pilot project in all the remaining districts of the state on the basis of its success, the release added.

A one-day advance training programme has already been organised for the volunteers. The programme was inaugurated by the state UNICEF representative Hamid-Al-Bashir yesterday.

According to a recent study conducted in Ghana, breast feeding in the first one hour after the child birth could reduce infant mortality rate by up to 22 per cent. This means 2.5 lakh newly-born could be saved in India per year.

At present, only 23 per cent children in India are fortunate to get mothers' milk within an hour after their birth, while others are deprived due to ignorance, misconceptions or social traditions.

UNI