MPs direct Ministry to set exclusive breastfeeding zones
Parliament in session. The House has directed the Health Ministry to enforce the establishment of adequately equipped lactation stations in all health and non-health facilities to promote breastfeeding. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The Parliamentary Health Committee has passed a motion to that effect and they shall proceed to pass it into law.
Parliament may enact a law that could see companies in both the formal and informal sector across the country set aside exclusive zones for breastfeeding.
The Parliamentary Health Committee, chaired by James Nyikal, said that the National Assembly has passed a motion to that effect and shall proceed to pass it into law.
The Seme MP said the House has directed the Health Ministry to establish adequately equipped lactation stations in health and non-health facilities to encourage breastfeeding.
“The current practice of confining breastfeeding to toilets and restrooms is unacceptable. Toilets and restrooms cannot be the dining areas for our babies, ” said Dr Nyikal.
He was speaking on Friday during the Nestle Nutrition Institute Africa (NNIA) conference dubbed “Breastfeeding: A Key to Good Nutrition and Wellbeing" in Nairobi.
Women are advised to exclusively breastfeed their infants for at least six months before weaning as it is crucial to the formulation of a baby’s brain and development of cognitive abilities as they grow.
The over 500 delegates who attended the conference decried the poor living conditions in rural parts of the country as a major obstacle to breastfeeding.
West Pokot First Lady Josephine Kachapin said that while women in both rural and urban settings face varied challenges regarding breastfeeding, they all face the shared dilemma of resuming work shortly after delivery and working for long hours to make ends meet, leaving them unable to nourish their children.
Ms Kachapin added that early marriages, single motherhood, poor social and professional support, inadequate knowledge, myths and misconceptions, HIV and AIDS also pose a great challenge.
The NNIA conference was organised as part of commemoration of the World Breastfeeding Week.
This year’s event was aimed at charting the way forward to attaining the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) number three that focuses on improving nutrition and wellbeing through the support of breastfeeding.
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