Expert advice to mothers on best breastfeeding practices

An exception, WHO recommends, should only be due to medically proven reasons or when the baby loses her mother.

As working mothers are kept away from their babies, some mothers do not get enough time to breastfeed their babies appropriately and wean them off earlier though some others do it due to ‘civilization’ claims that breastfeeding makes breasts loose.

Many women chose to replace breast milk with cow or processed milk which, according to scientists, is unhealthy and less nutritious compared to human milk.

In an exclusive interview with IGIHE, Dr. Diane Patricie Kayitesi, a pediatrician at Muhima Hospital, Kigali, urged parents to respect the child’s right to be breastfed.

“Actually, there are mothers who feed their babies with cow milk when they are below one year. This is not good because it has been scientifically proven that it causes ‘iron deficiency anemia’, a condition in which blood lacks adequate healthy red blood cells,” says Dr. Kayitesi.

“Normally, a baby should be breastfed at least eight to 12 times a day. That a mother leaves her home for work to get livelihood is not a reason to start feeding her baby with processed or cow milk. She instead should press milk from her breasts and leave it for the baby at home as it can be kept and serve its purpose with no problem,” she advised.

“Mothers who decide to keep breast milk should keep it in hygienic conditions as it can last for six hours with no problem and the kid drinks it in her mother’s absence,” Dr. Kayitesi revealed.

The pediatrician also said stress, inappropriate rest and poor diet are among reasons that make mothers lack enough breast milk. On this, she said, “To get nutritious and enough breast milk, a mother should rest properly, eat clean and enough and drink enough to never get dehydrated.”

Dr. Kayitesi suggests big and medium institutions reserve places for breastfeeding mothers. Expert advice to mothers on best breastfeeding practices.

The World Health Organization (WHO) advises mothers to properly and exclusively breastfeed babies at least for the first six months to keep them healthy and build the baby’s immunity during his entire life.

An exception, WHO recommends, should only be due to medically proven reasons or when the baby loses her mother.

As working mothers are kept away from their babies, some mothers do not get enough time to breastfeed their babies appropriately and wean them off earlier though some others do it due to ‘civilization’ claims that breastfeeding makes breasts loose.

Many women chose to replace breast milk with cow or processed milk which, according to scientists, is unhealthy and less nutritious compared to human milk.

In an exclusive interview with IGIHE, Dr. Diane Patricie Kayitesi, a pediatrician at Muhima Hospital, Kigali, urged parents to respect the child’s right to be breastfed.

“Actually, there are mothers who feed their babies with cow milk when they are below one year. This is not good because it has been scientifically proven that it causes ‘iron deficiency anemia’, a condition in which blood lacks adequate healthy red blood cells,” says Dr. Kayitesi.

“Normally, a baby should be breastfed at least eight to 12 times a day. That a mother leaves her home for work to get livelihood is not a reason to start feeding her baby with processed or cow milk. She instead should press milk from her breasts and leave it for the baby at home as it can be kept and serve its purpose with no problem,” she advised.

“Mothers who decide to keep breast milk should keep it in hygienic conditions as it can last for six hours with no problem and the kid drinks it in her mother’s absence,” Dr. Kayitesi revealed.

The pediatrician also said stress, inappropriate rest and poor diet are among reasons that make mothers lack enough breast milk. On this, she said, “To get nutritious and enough breast milk, a mother should rest properly, eat clean and enough and drink enough to never get dehydrated.”

Dr. Kayitesi suggests big and medium institutions reserve places for breastfeeding mothers.

“It is vital for a mother to let her baby suck the breast completely before she changes for another. When a baby gets satisfied when he/she has not finished all the milk from the breast, the mother should press the milk out to be kept to allow the body to make milk in both breasts,” Kayitesi notes.

“It is vital for a mother to let her baby suck the breast completely before she changes for another. When a baby gets satisfied when he/she has not finished all the milk from the breast, the mother should press the milk out to be kept to allow the body to make milk in both breasts,” Kayitesi notes.