K M Dayashankar
Breastfeeding week celebrations from August 1 to 7
KARIMNAGAR, JULY 31, 2024: Collector Pamela Satpathy has informed the officials to take all measures to create awareness among the mothers about the importance of breastfeeding of infants as part of the breastfeeding week celebrations from August 1 to 7 in the district.
At a Wednesday review meeting on ‘Breastfeeding week celebrations’ with district-level officers, medical officers and CDPOs, the Collector said: “Mother’s milk has complete nutritional value for infants. Mother needs to breastfeed her child after post-normal delivery and if delivery is through C-section. And after that, the infant must be given exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.”
After six months, apart from breastfeeding, the child must be given banana, curd and boiled potato and after one year, the child can be given home-cooked food, she stated. Stating that breastfeeding is administered to the child to protect him from several serious diseases, she said that Mother’s milk contains colostrum that provides immunity to the child to fight diseases. Breastfed children are protected from pneumonia, dysenteries, chest infections and asthma, she added.
The milk available in the open market could in no way be a substitute for mother’s milk, she said and added that the officials should accord priority to educating the pregnant on the importance of breastfeeding for a healthy nation. Additional Collector Praful Desai, ZP CEO Srinivas, DWO Saraswati, DMHO Dr Sujata, MEPMA PD Ravinder and others were also present.
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