The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), in cooperation with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) and Sidra Medicine, is celebrating World Breastfeeding Week from 1 to 7 August, under the slogan STEP UP FOR BREASTFEEDING – EDUCATE AND SUPPORT.
The celebration comes within the framework of the efforts of MoPH to implement plans for Healthy Children and Adolescents to increase breastfeeding rates. It aims to educate community members about the importance of their support for breastfeeding, encourage mothers to breastfeed as a smart choice for the health of the child and focus on the importance of introducing complementary foods at the age of six months while continuing breastfeeding. The campaign also aims to focus on the side effects of formula milk.
Awareness campaign to promote breastfeeding
To mark the occasion, MoPH and partners are launching an awareness campaign this month to promote breastfeeding, in cooperation with all hospitals in the State of Qatar.
The campaign includes broadcasting videos on complementary feeding for six-month-old babies, in addition to supporting breastfeeding on visual media and social media platforms, distributing educational materials to mothers’ rooms after delivery in all hospitals, as well as nursing mothers in healthy baby clinics in health centres under PHCC, obstetrics departments, outpatient clinics, neonatal intensive care units at the Women’s Health and Research Center, and in hospitals at Al Wakra, Al Kobi and Al Khor.
MoPH, in cooperation with Sidra Medicine, is also organising two discussion sessions on misconceptions about breastfeeding and newborn health, during the Maternal & Child Health Forum this week, 2 and 3 August, during which questions will be received and participants’ enquiries will be answered by Sidra Medicine specialists. The other session, featuring a breastfeeding specialist from PHCC, will be live streamed on social media.
Acting Manager of Health Promotion and Non-communicable Diseases at MoPH, Dr Salah Al-Yafei, said the ministry continues to work towards enhancing society’s awareness of the importance of breastfeeding. He emphasised the importance of breastmilk as a source of energy, nutrients and immunity enhancement for children.
It is recommended to start breastfeeding the child during the first hours of birth to help the newborn to build his/her immune system.
According to Dr Al-Yafei, pertinent international organisations also recommend ‘exclusive breastfeeding’ during the first six months of a child’s life, followed by continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary food until the child reaches two years, as a strong line of defence against all forms of childhood malnutrition, such as weight loss, obesity and many infectious diseases, as well as strengthening the relationship between mother and child.
World Breastfeeding Week
Senior Health Officer for Healthy Children and Adolescents at MoPH and Assistant Medical Director for Child and Adolescent Health at PHCC, Dr Sadria Al-Kuhji, said the ministry is working to achieve the national goal of increasing the level of exclusive breastfeeding over the first six months of the infant’s life, where breastfeeding is the first vaccine for children and helps protect them from many common childhood diseases.
Dr Al-Kuhji added that celebrating World Breastfeeding Week by sharing personal experiences and breastfeeding strategies with new mothers contributes to promoting the concept of breastfeeding among members of the community, thereby enhancing the positive impact on infants’ feeding options.
Fetna Saeed al-Nuaimi, the National Coordinator of the Baby-Friendly Hospitals Initiative at MoPH, said breastfeeding is one of the key factors for enhancing the ability of newborns to improve their health, as breastfeeding promotes children’s health and body growth and has a significant impact on maternal health.
World Breastfeeding Week is held annually from 1 to 7 August to encourage women to breastfeed and improve infant health around the world. The celebration commemorates the Innocenti Declaration signed in August 1990 by government policymakers, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and other organisations to protect, encourage and support breastfeeding.
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