Heidelberg Hospital promotes breastfeeding
Heidelberg Hospital has joined the world community to commemorate National Breastfeeding Week in promoting health and sustainable development.
Concerned with the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding hospital management and staff hosted a breastfeeding awareness campaign on August 2 to increase awareness and educate new mothers on the benefits of breast milk to an infant.
Set every August for the first seven days of the month, World Breastfeeding Week aims to highlight the huge benefits that breastfeeding can bring to the health and welfare of both mother and baby, as well as a wider push for maternal health, focusing on good nutrition, poverty reduction and food security.
The purpose of the campaign was to highlight the importance of breastfeeding through education. During the campaign, Lienka van der Merwe addressed issues such as breast cancer, abcess and HIV and breastfeeding, while Tanya La Cock demonstrated the ‘Kangaroo Mother Care’ method which aims to promote skin-to-skin care between mothers and babies.
Also read: World Breastfeeding Week celebrated in August
Koketso Phoso provided information on complimentary feeding, exclusive breastfeeding and expression storage, while Lethabo Mogashoa elaborated on the importance of the first 1000 days of life, milestones, maternal and child nutrition and the benefits of breastfeeding.
HIV positive, breastfeeding mothers were informed of a fixed-dose combination drug (a combination of two or more ARV drugs in one pill) which will allow them to breastfeed their babies and prevent a mother-to-child transmission during the infant feeding period.
The campaign continued throughout National Breastfeeding Week from 1 to 7 August.
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