More than 800000 infant deaths can be prevented each year by focusing on exclusive breastfeeding. Research has shown that babies who are not exclusively breastfed are particularly vulnerable to the leading killers of infants and are 15times more likely to die from pneumonia and 11 times more likely to die from diarrhoea compared to babies who are exclusively breastfed. .
Breastfeeding is a key intervention and strategy that if embraced will definitely, without doubt pull Nigeria out of its current place as the country with the third highest infant mortality rate in the world.
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To achieve this, expectant and nursing mothers must; beyond being encouraged to breastfeed, be educated and trained on the act of breastfeeding as well as be supported by baby friendly workplace policies that allow mothers the required maternity leave that will enable them breastfeed for the recommended amount of time.
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This is our goal at Thriving Up Initiative. We go from encouraging moms to breastfeed, to empowering them with knowledge and skills that they would need to have a successful breastfeeding experience, sustain it exclusively for the first six months of an infants life and thereby adequately ensure the survival of their infants.
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This time around we were at Garki General Hospital, Abuja and our founder @amarachiiykeigwe as always patiently answered all their budding questions on breastfeeding empowering them with all the information they need to sustain exclusive breastfeeding.
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We will not stop until no infant has to die on the day they are born or in the days after.
