A gynaecologist, Dr Emeka Iloghalu, has urged nursing mothers to always engage in exclusive breastfeeding to help in the brain development of their children.
Iloghalu, of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, stated this in an interview on Tuesday in Enugu.
He said that engaging in six months of exclusive breastfeeding would help in building children’s immunity and preventing the child from getting sick easily.
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According to him, exclusive breastfeeding promotes a good relationship between mother and child.
The medical practitioner, who is also a consultant, said that he would soon organise a maternity and newborn health education, where there would be free immunisation, distribution of mosquito nets and other activities.
Iloghalu, who noted that Nigeria records 200 deaths out of every 1,000 births, said that health education would focus on addressing maternal and neonatal deaths.
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He, however, said that the programme would be strictly for pregnant mothers and children under the age of five.
The medical expert called on kind-hearted Nigerians to embark on programmes that would reduce the high rate of maternal mortality rather than wait for the government to do everything.
NAN
