The Hunger Project empowers rural communities with breastfeeding initiative

The Hunger Project, in partnership with the Asuogyaman District Health Directorate, has celebrated World Breastfeeding Week 2024, held annually in August, with the people of Sedorm, a rural community under the Adjena-Dornor Epicenter.The event aimed to enhance the health needs of the communities by provision of vital information and promoting best breastfeeding practices, which align with this year's theme: 'Closing the gap: Breastfeeding support for all.'Breastfeeding is defined by experts as the act of feeding breast milk to a baby or infant, which can be done directly from the mother's breast or through expressed breast milk fed to the baby from a bottle.The goal of this year's breastfeeding education was to educate the public on the importance of responsive and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, highlighting the benefits of this practice for both mothers and infants.Addressing participants who came from various communities within the epicenter, Ms. Afua Konadu Agyeman, the Public H ealth Nurse in the Asuogyaman District, explained that breastfeeding supplied all the necessary nutrients in the proper proportions.She said breast milk contained calories, vitamins, minerals, and other important nutrients that were best for brain growth and nervous system development of babies.She also said exclusive breastfeeding protected babies against short and long-term illness and diseases such as asthma and obesity.The nurse demonstrated the best position for breastfeeding and proper attachment techniques to the participants.Many of the attendees were encouraged to adopt best practices and ensure exclusive breastfeeding for the recommended six months.Mr. Charles Dzamesi, Project Officer of the Adjena-Dornor Epicenter, said Sedorm was a fishing community where fertility was high that, there was the need for nurses to intensify education on breastfeeding to help the good growth of the baby as well as the brain development.'Well breastfed babies do not fall sick frequently and it helps save m oney and also they permit their parents to go about their businesses peacefully,' he said.Madam Abigail Teye, a participant, expressed joy and gratitude for the information and demonstration provided on breastfeeding, stating that it was both useful and educative.She said the event would be particularly helpful to her, as she was expecting a baby soon and intended to adopt the practices.Source: Ghana News Agency