INTRODUCTION
EFFECTIVENESS OF EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INFANT IN NIGERIA
Breastfeeding is the act of directly supplying a newborn or young kid with breast milk from an adult (Adelekan, 2003). The first day after birth is when it starts, and it lasts for around the first two years of the baby’s existence. Up to the sixth month, EBF is described as “an infant’s consumption of human milk without any supplementation (no water, no juice, no human milk, and no food, other than vitamins, minerals, and medicine).” (Adelekan,2003) For the health of the mother and the child, EBF for six months is necessary. In both affluent and developing nations, infants who are not exclusively breastfed are more prone to have gastrointestinal issues. Infants who are either partly or never breastfed are far more likely to die from illnesses like diarrhea.
Infants who are not breastfed are roughly six times more likely than breastfed newborns to die from infectious diseases like gastroenteritis, pneumonia, etc. during the first two months of life; between two and three months, non-breastfed infants are four times more likely to die than breastfed infants ( WHO, 2010).
In order to monitor its application, the creation of a breastfeeding policy, and the instruction of health professionals in the promotion and support of breastfeeding, a BFHI authority was subsequently established. In order to assist EBF, Ghana approved the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in 1991. In order to restrict the aggressive advertising of breastmilk substitutes, Ghana also created and put into effect the Ghana Breastfeeding Advertising Regulation 2000, also known as Legislative Instrument [LI] 1667. (2013) Kumi-Kyereme; Tampa-Naah They have not had the anticipated effect, similar to many other sub-Saharan nations where exclusive breastfeeding is still uncommon (Aryeetey, 2013). Ghana’s EBF rate was assessed by the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) to be 63% in 2008. (GDHS 2008). According to the Ghana Statistical Service, 46% of children in Ghana under the age of six months were exclusively breastfed in 2011.
This percentage clearly falls below the 90% suggested coverage threshold by the WHO. 2003’s Lancet. Exclusive breastfeeding attitudes and knowledge among mothers, as well as family requirements, educational level, sociocultural norms, age, marital status, and family income and social class. The time and place of the first breastfeeding have already been mentioned in relation to the present circumstances. It is crucial to look at the practices, perceptions, and barriers of these moms about EBF.
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