Date:09/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/09/stories/2008080952080300.htm

Tamil Nadu

Steps sought to help lactating mothers

Special Correspondent

TIRUVANNAMALAI: The district administration should take steps to provide crèches in all work spots where women are employed in large numbers, to help them feed their babies, K. Ganesan, Additional Director-General (ADG), Press Information Bureau (PIB), has said.

He was participating in a special seminar on Thursday organised by the Field Publicity Office and SINAM, a Tiruvannamalai-based non-governmental organisation, in connection with the World Breastfeeding Week at Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School here.

Mr. Ganesan said feeding of babies was a problem for working women. So, the administration should provide creches at work spots and allow the working mothers to feed their babies.

He called upon girl students to take proper care of their health during their school and college days so that they could bear healthy children in the future.

He appealed to relatives of mothers and co-workers to create a congenial atmosphere for the working mothers, both at home and at the work spots, as peace of mind was vital for lactating mothers.

T. Sivakumar, Field Publicity Officer, Vellore, said ‘mother support’ was the theme of the World Breastfeeding Week this year. According to National Family Health Survey-III, the percentage of mothers who resorted to exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months after their children’s birth in the whole of India was 46.3, while it was 33.3 in Tamil Nadu. About 14 lakh children died of diarrhoea, pneumonia and poor immunity. The number of such deaths could be considerably reduced if the mothers feed their children.

K. Sailakshmi, District Social Welfare Officer, explained scientifically how breast milk was a mixture of food and medicine.

Colustrum, the first secretion of mother’s milk, was a big immunity builder, she said. Later, Mr. Ganesan distributed prizes to S. Jayabharathi, K. Prabhavathi, K. Vennila and Kavitha, who won the quiz programme conducted in connection with World Breastfeeding Week. About 300 students took a pledge that they would breastfeed their children.