CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is bottom-placed just above the northeastern states of Nagaland and Meghalaya besides Uttar Pradesh when it comes to breastfeeding of babies in 0-6 months, according to a report by the National Health and Family Survey.
The report states that Tamil Nadu has a breastfeeding rate of only 48.3 pc when compared with states like Chhatisgarh (77.2 pc), Manipur (73.6 pc) and Dadar and Nagar Havelli (72.7 pc).
“Unlike Chattisgarh, Manipur, Nagar and Havelli, there is large women working force in Tamil Nadu. Also, there are more women from poorer or lower economic strata who go for work in Tamil Nadu. Also the private organised sector sanctions maternity leave for only three months. But, when you take the unorganised sector, they hardly get any leave for nursing mothers. These problems have to be addressed,” said Dr J Kumutha, expert advisor for child health, Tamil Nadu.
“But when it comes to raising awareness of breastfeeding, Tamil Nadu is doing a good job. Maternal benefits for nursing mothers working in private sector, organised and unorganised should be improved,” Dr Kumutha added.
Dr Arun Gupta, member, Prime Minister’s Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges and regional coordinator of International Breast Feeding Action Network (IBFAN) Asia, one of the members of the Global Breastfeeding Collective formed by Unicef and World Health Organisation, said that the issue is due to lack of maternity leave for women in the formal sector.
Although the government has brought the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 which increases women’s leave entitlement from 12 weeks to 26 weeks in the formal sector in any form of employment, whether private or government sector, it is not enough for women as many of them are poor and could not afford right intake of nutrition food, says Gupta.
Gupta says that he has mooted a monthly contribution of Rs 5,000 for mothers for the first six months so that they could eat healthy and breastfeed their babies or else they would prefer baby foods and deny breast milk to babies.
Interestingly, Gupta will be launching the report titled “Arrested Development, the Fifth Report of Assessment of India’s Policy and Programmes on Breastfeeding and Infant and Young Child Feeding 2018” on Tuesday, highlighting the policy issues which have resulted in mothers preferring milk powder and other substitutes for breast milk. According to the available scientific evidence, globally breastfeeding could save lives of more than 8,20,000 children and 20,000 women annually. It can also save more than $300 billion for nations every year.
The analysis of the Global Breastfeeding Collective 2017 notes that for India despite a reported 55 per cent exclusive breastfeeding rate in children below the age of six months, the large population in India and high under five mortality means that an estimated 99,499 children die each year as a result of diarrhea and pneumonia that could have been prevented through early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.
Factfile
99,499 children die each year as a result of diarrhea and pneumonia that could have been prevented through early initiation of breastfeeding
Tamil Nadu has a breast feeding rate of only 48.3pc when compared with states like Chhatisgarh (77.2pc), Manipur (73.6pc) and Dadar and Nagar Havelli (72.7pc)
The high level of child mortality and growing number of deaths in women from cancers and type II diabetes attributable to inadequate breastfeeding is estimated to drain the Indian economy of $7 billion
Breastfeeding could save lives of more than 820,000 children and 20,000 women annually