Initiatives of Breastfeeding Friends highlighted

SHARJAH: The Friends of Breasfeeding Association of the Health Promotion Department at the Supreme Council for Family Affairs in Sharjah has shed light on its initiatives and events in May and June, where the number of hours spent by the volunteers in the Association activities reached 1,705 virtual hours.

And through the social media plaforms, the Association held an initiative to study volunteer behaviour in the UAE society in cooperation with a number of governmental and private institutions, society members, in addition to training a number of volunteer students from various university institutions.

At the health awareness level, the Breastfeeding Association organised through its social media accounts several educational lectures aimed at supporting and encouraging mothers to continue breasfeeding their children, in addition to providing the financial and moral support for nursing mothers with COVID-19, in coordination with other competent authorities.

The association’s efforts did not stop there. Rather, it sought to find solutions to the suspension of producing some breasfeeding devices and accessories due to the current circumstances. To this end, the Association has provided sale and rental services to breasfeeding devices through courier companies to maintain the health and safety of its employees and customers.

Eng. Khawla Al Noman, Head of Breasfeeding Friends Association, said: “Since the emergence of COVID-19, the Breasfeeding Friends has dedicated all the efforts to enhancing the awareness of community members about healthy lifestyles, especially among nursing mothers as they are amongst the most vulnerable groups to COVID-19 infection. Further, we have continued our efforts to support and encourage mothers to breasfeed their children and to help them overcome all the challenges they face, owing to the importance of breasfeeding for both the mother and the child.”

Al Noman pointed out that the Association has focused its efforts on strengthening the concept of volunteer work through motivating community members to take part in the specialised volunteerism in a scientific and innovative way, shedding light on the study conducted by the Association to assess the volunteer behaviour in society and identify the challenges faced by volunteers and find solutions to them, as well as to come up with the findings that consolidate the culture of volunteer work.

In the meantime, the Association has published on its social media plaforms over 37 posts and 10 videos that provide tips and advice about how to boost the immune system among mothers and children, in addition to special posts on health-related world days.