Bhubaneswar: Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar Friday stressed the need for breastfeeding for the newborns especially during the pandemic.
In a brainstorming session organized by the community medicine department of AIIMS with experts from across the nation, the doctors exhorted lactating mothers to boost breastfeeding habits for their babies, citing the immense benefits of the habit.
Dr Binod Kumar Patro, Professor AIIMS, Bhubaneswar said exclusive breastfeeding for the initial six months from a child’s birth is one of the best and most cost-effective interventions for reducing child mortality.
“Despite several efforts in the field of nutrition, we are lagging behind in achieving cent per cent of exclusive breastfeeding. These issues should be given utmost importance,” he said.
Dr Sarita Bhagwat, lactation consultant, from BPNI (Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India), Maharashtra appealed to hospitals to not advocate for milk substitutes for the babies. “One of the measures in Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiatives should be to desist from distribution of milk substitutes either the free or low cost to health facilitates. Steps should be taken to support breastfeeding to the newborns,”
Dr Prashant Gangal, Pediatric Specialist, BPNI, Maharashtra on the other hand talked about immunization, medications and other support for the babies keeping in mind the COVID threat.
He said, “We need to administer safe complementary feeding to the newborns. Diet and growth monitoring, development, drugs (calcium & iron for mother and LBW babies) and dose (immunization of pregnant mother and child) should be used to improve their health,”
The session was organized by the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar in collaboration with UNICEF Odisha to deliberate on the issue of Infant and Young Child Feeding issues and solutions. The Department of Community Medicine of the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar had been organizing several online sessions to create awareness on best practices in nutrition through media and community participation.
