PROMOTING BREAST-FEEDING BENEFITS
AS WORLD Breast-feeding Week approaches, mothers in Saldanha are celebrating a breast-feeding rate of 76%, with 40.4% breast-feeding for six months or longer – 8% higher than the national average.
Research from the UN Children’s Fund shows that breast-feeding gives babies a significant leg-up in life. Babies who are breast-fed have a survival rate six times greater than those who are not.
Additionally, breast-feeding has been shown to benefit brain development and even make a difference in educational outcomes for children of age 5. Still, less than half of the world’s babies are breast-fed early on.
Dr Coenie Louw, executive director of Gateway Health Institute, helped run Saldanha Bay’s health literacy campaign to increase the practice.
“By educating new mothers on the benefits of breast-feeding and other best practices in raising a child, we’re creating healthier and happier babies.”
South African Civil Society for Women’s Adolescents’ and Children’s Health (SACSoWACH) created the Dare2Care project in 2018 after water scarcity became a major issue in Saldanha. The group launched the Dare2Care’s health literacy campaign to make the community aware of solutions to problems surrounding infant mortality and infection rates.
According to Louw, water scarcity can lead to problems with illness and infection because as people attempt to cut down on water use, often basic hand hygiene decreases. These decreases can lead to infections spreading more easily.
Additionally, formula-feeding babies uses a significantly higher amount of water than breast-feeding.
SACSoWACH worked to create a literacy campaign to inform mothers about the importance of vaccinating children, noticing signs of illness and breast-feeding from an early age.
The campaign took a three-tiered approach to engaging people. The goals were to reach 732 people on a one-on-one basis in Saldanha, 2450 via USSD and 100000 through a Facebook health literacy campaign on the West Coast. Because the messaging took multiple forms, doctors and educators were able to contact people who otherwise would not have access to the information.
Dare2Care will continue its efforts in decreasing infant mortality and increasing breast-feeding levels across South Africa. To get involved with the campaign contact: https://www. facebook.com/Dare2CareSA/
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By educating new mothers on the benefits of breast-feeding and other best practices in raising a child, we are creating healthier and happier babies Dr Coenie Louw GATEWAY HEALTH INSTITUTE