By Coletta Wanjohi
Every morning on her radio show, Salma Msangi speaks animatedly on issues concerning motherhood, interspersing these conversations with her personal experience of raising a child.
Listeners in Tanzania tuning in to Salma's show are familiar with her views on exclusive breastfeeding, which she ardently advocates to every mother having doubts about nursing her baby.
"When I had my firstborn, I faced challenges in breastfeeding," Salma recounted to TRT Afrika.
As a new mother, she was filled with self-doubt when family members and friends would tell her that she was denying her child enough nutrition by relying only on breast milk.
"I had to seek help from the hospital where I gave birth," she says. "The medical professionals were very supportive, making me to realise that a mother's breast milk is enough for a child at least in the first six months."
This isn't just an urban phenomenon.
In a village in Western Kenya, Sarah Khatievi is enjoying the company of her six grandchildren who have come to visit her. The 68-year-old recalls that for all her eight children, she supplemented breastfeeding with solid food.
"A child cannot do with only breast milk – that is what our mothers taught us," says Sarah. "For all my children, I would add some water to the diet alongside breastmilk. At about five months, I introduced softly mashed potatoes and porridge before fully weaning them off breast milk after six months."
Sarah laughed loudly as she told TRT Afrika another supposedly old wives' tale handed down to her. Her mother apparently told her that for one to know a child is fully fed, the trick is to keep checking the size of the stomach as the baby feeds.
"When it is round like a ball, that is a good sign of the baby being satisfied."
Sole nutrition
Exclusive breastfeeding means that the only thing going into a baby's stomach is mother's milk. Not even a few drops of water are given to the child.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that every child should feed exclusively on breast milk, teeming with nutrients and good bacteria that's great for the child's gut, for at least the first six months after birth.
It also advises a mother to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of the child being born, although that proves a challenge for many women. In some cases, the problems are both physiological and psychological.
"Some mothers are worried about not having enough milk for their children," says Victoria Kirway, a nurse who specialises in neonatal care at the CCBRT Hospital in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam.
“We always say that there could be problems because of hormonal changes, but eventually breast milk will be naturally generated."
Victoria says a mother need not worry about producing enough breast milk, assuring that it will come naturally as she and the baby goes along.
“When a child is born, he or she doesn't need much milk; so, what the baby gets by way of breast milk is enough. Just get your child to suckle every two or three hours, and the breast milk will keep adding up."
The beauty trend
Whenever she interacts with new mothers on her show, radio presenter Salma comes across cases where popular notions about the clash between breastfeeding and beauty.
“Where are you listening from? Tell me why you are not breastfeeding," she can be heard saying in the second part of her show that cues in a popular Kiswahili song about women and beauty.
This session is popular and attracts many callers, mainly young women who openly talk about not breastfeeding because they want to stay beautiful.
"People always want to talk about this; the topic never gets old," Salma tells TRT Afrika.
"Many young women believe that if they breastfeed, the size and shape of their breasts will be affected," says the mother of three. "What my fellow women don't understand is that the shape and volume of our breasts are dictated by nature, not breastfeeding."
WHO and UNICEF note that “babies who aren't breastfed are 14 times more likely to die before they reach their first birthday than babies who are exclusively breastfed".
It's a telling statistic that is reflected in reality.
"We have mothers coming in with sick children and, when we inquire, they tell us the kids have never been breastfed. On probing further, it transpires that these mothers didn't have any medical reason for not giving their children breast milk," says nurse Victoria.
According to doctors, a child who has been exclusively breastfed in the first few months after birth tends to grow into an individual with a high level of intelligence.
"We always tell these mothers that if they deny their children breast milk, they are cultivating a culture of low immunity against diseases. Simple breastfeeding can prevent a child from pneumonia, meningitis, urinary tract infection, asthma, diabetes, obesity, and heart problems," says Victoria.
Breast milk also protects children against chronic conditions like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
It is beneficial for mothers, too, shielding them from breast and ovarian cancers.
WHO acknowledges that African countries like Côte d'Ivoire and Somalia have seen an increase in breastfeeding rates after persistent campaigning about its advantages.
Breastfeeding and work
The imperative to resume work soon after childbirth, and the lack of a breastfeeding environment at workplaces is a challenge for mothers who would love to continue exclusive breastfeeding, but can't do so for reasons other than personal and medical.
It is in this context that World Breastfeeding Week, observed from August 1 to 7 every year, assumes extra significance. This year, the theme is "Let's make breastfeeding at work, work".
WHO is urging all employers to support breastfeeding at the workplace.
In a joint statement with UNICEF, it has asked corporate entities and individual employers to "provide sufficient paid leave to all working parents and caregivers to meet the needs of their young children."
This includes paid maternity leave for a minimum of 18 weeks, preferably for a period of six months or more after birth.
