Breastfeeding Week: 6 Months Maternity Leave for Civil Servants Underway

Breastfeeding Week: 6 Months Maternity Leave for Civil Servants Underway

‎As Nigeria continues to record low percentage in exclusive breastfeeding with the latest figure being pegged at 25 percent despite the fact that it has recorded 97 percent breastfeeding compliance, the federal government has announced that all preparations and modalities involved to positively increase the percentage is underway as civil servants will be given six months maternity leave as against the present three or four.

This was revealed today by the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, in Abuja during the commemoration of the 2017 World Breastfeeding Week and the launch of Breastfeeding Advocacy Initiative (BAI) by the Nigerian First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, with the theme: ‘Sustaining breastfeeding together’.

The minister who was represented by the Director of Family Health in the ministry, Dr. Adebimpe Adebiyi, said the call to increase the maternity period has been considered by the ministry of health and has in turn liaised with the Ministry of Labour and Employment, and it will soon come to fruition as everything in the civil service must follow due process.

He said: "We are collaborating with the ministry of labour and employment, and the minister of labour is very much in support of this, but it has to go through due process. We already have the approval of the National Council on Health for us to start discussing with the ministry of labour and you know that policy of this type and importance will have to go through process as this is what will last the test of time."

In the same vein, the wife of the president blamed several factors as being responsible for the low rate in exclusive breastfeeding.

She called on employers of labour to as a matter of necessity and urgency create enabling environments in their organisation for the promotion of breastfeeding.

Mrs. Buhari who was represented by her Senior Special Assistant, Dr. Hajo Sani, said she had advocated for policies and programmes that would boost the environment to foster sustainable support for breastfeeding women.

She said: "Some of the factors that may be responsible for the poor rate of breastfeeding range from poor health, poor living and working conditions, wrong perspectives and myth about breastfeeding, and low awareness in some cases, but mothers can't do it all alone.

"Therefore, I have advocated making it one of our country's priorities to change this very interesting programme and policies that boosts the environment to foster sustainable protection, promotion and support breastfeeding women.

"I call on employers in Nigeria to create an enabling environment to support breastfeeding mothers through the creation of daycare centres, breastfeeding rooms in work places, flexible hours and other practical solutions. Many mothers want to breastfeed for longer than they currently do, and this policy will help them to do it," she ‎emphasised.