A lactating mother in Bauchi state, Adama Mohammed, has called on the state government to establish creches in working place for working mothers.
She made the call in Azare, the headquarters of Katagum local government area of the state on Thursday during a media field trip organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bauchi Field Office.
According to her, if established, the creches would allow all lactating mothers who are also working to have privacy and feel free to breastfeed their babies.
Mohammed, who is also a nurse at Nasarawa B Primary Healthcare Centre, Azare, said “I’m calling on the government to please make provision of creches for breastfeeding mothers at work places.
“We will be glad if the government can do this especially, especially, the breastfeeding mothers working in hospitals,” she said.
The mother of six also called on the state government to extend the three months maternity leave to six months.
She said this would avail the working and breastfeeding mothers the opportunity to have enough time to rest and exclusively breastfeed their babies for a period six months.
The health worker, who explained that all her six children were exclusively breastfed, said the six months maternity leave would also lessen the burden of shuttling from work to home in order to breastfeed their babies.
“Because of its health benefits that we had been taught, all my six children are exclusive babies and didn’t drink water till after six months.
“I make sure I feed my last baby well before going to work so it takes him upto an hour before I go back home and feed him again so that nobody will give him water.
“Had it been there is provision creche here, I wouldn’t have to be going back home to breastfeed him at all,” she said.
Also speaking to newsmen at Tatari Ali PHC, Azare, Ummulkhairi Abdullahi, said she exclusively breastfed her two years old baby as been taught by UNICEF and health workers at the PHC.
She testified that exclusive breastfeeding is a life saver of babies, adding that she had seen the benefits in her healthy baby.
She further called on other women to exclusively breastfeed their babies for the benefit of both babies and mothers.
UNICEF oganised the trip to intaract with and find out the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding from lactating mothers and the plights of mothers who are breastfeeding their babies and working at the same time.