Start Them Off Well. Breastfeed!

As we celebrate WORLD BREAST FEEDING WEEK this August, lets all ensure new mums, realise their childrens full potential right fromthe start.

- Joy Wanja Muraya

'Isn’t it strange that today, breastfeeding in public has become a topic of debate. Why can't we let children have their food in peace?’ asks Florence Machio, a breastfeeding advocate and working mother of two, who juggles between children, work and graduate school.

‘Why are we uncomfortable with a very natural occurrence even when we know that babies feed on demand?’ she queries.

Florence took up a job when her son was only two months old, and the long absence from the baby meant she had to find a way to deliver her breast milk home every day.

‘To achieve exclusive breastfeeding, I would express milk in the car and store it in a fridge at work. When the amount was enough for dispatch, I would pack it in a cooler box and give it to my trustworthy motorbike rider to take home to my baby,’ she explains.

After a long day at work, Florence would attend classes a few days a week and despite getting home after 9pm, she would give her baby a bath and massage before breastfeeding.

Today, when she looks at her five-year-old son, she appreciates that she made sacrifices to ensure he was exclusively fed on breast milk for the first six months.

‘He is a strong healthy boy who rarely gets sick, thanks to a healthy start in life,’ she says.

Her eight-year-old son was also exclusively breastfed.

THE STATISTICS

According to WHO breastfed children have at least 14 times more chances of survival in the early months, than those who are not breastfed.

Kenya has recorded an increase in number of exclusively breastfed children from 32 per cent in 2008 to 61 per cent in 2014.