Half of Ghanaian babies not exclusively breastfed – GSS

Nearly half of infants under six months born in Ghana are not being exclusively breastfed, the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has revealed.

According to the report, exclu­sive breastfeeding has stagnated in the country over the past two decades with a marginal increase from 52 to 53 percent between 2003 and 2022.

This falls short of the World Health Organisation (WHO) rec­ommendation to initiate babies to breast milk within the first hour of birth and sustain it solely for the first six months of life.

It is also below the national target to achieve at least 70 per­cent of initiating breastmilk within the first hour of birth and exclu­sive breastfeeding for six months, respectively.

The report disclosed that na­tionally, the average duration for exclusive breastfeeding was three months with the Western North, Western and Greater Accra regions being the lowest.

“Half of the 16 regions had an average duration of exclusive breastfeeding of less than three months. The Savannah Region had the longest average duration for exclusive breastfeeding (4.7 months), followed by the Volta region (4.4 months).”

These were contained in a statement issued to mark World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) in Accra, on Tuesday, August 6, 2024.

The GSS noted that although breastfeeding in Ghana was near universal (around 97 per cent), efforts must be intensified to encourage early initiation and six months of exclusive breastfeeding for optimal growth and development of infants.

Marked from August 1 to 7 every year, this year’s WBW on the theme ‘Closing the gap; Breastfeeding support for all’ aims at celebrating breastfeeding mums in all their diversity, throughout their breast­feeding journeys while promoting ways in which families, societies, communities and health workers can support every breastfeeding mum.

In a related development, the Deputy Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Anthony Adofo Ofosu, addressed journalists at the commemoration and attributed the breastfeeding gap mainly to the increasing working mother population in the country.

Stressing the importance of breastfeeding particularly for the first six months to include pro­tecting babies against infections and allergies, brain development and reducing the risk of some form of cancers for mothers, Dr Ofosu called for collective efforts in making needed adjustments to encourage the practice among mothers.

He said on the part of the GHS, it was taking steps to en­sure that breastfeeding mothers discuss their feeding plans with health workers for firm conclu­sions as well as support the prac­tice of “skin-to-skin” regardless of the mode of child delivery.

“We are ensuring that health staff and families support the mother-baby pair to breast­feed exclusively for the first six months. That health staff adhere to the tenets of GHS Code of Ethics, abiding by the breast­feeding promotion regulation, and avoid placing themselves in conflict of interest of positions,” he noted.

The Deputy DG urged that “the entire country makes breast­feeding the norm by creating breastfeeding spaces in the work and public places, including siting of breastfeeding booths in vantage places where women can safely breastfeed.”

“Advertisement of breast milk substitutes in our media spaces must be removed in accordance with the Public Health Act 851 on breast milk substitute’spro­motion so we can all secure a healthier population.”