By Sorie Ibrahim Fofanah
The Chairperson, Committee on Gender and Children’s Affairs in Parliament, Cathrine Zainab Tarawally has said Parliament will work to ensure that they pass a law that will increase maternal leave from 3 to six months.
Tarawally was speaking at the Atlantic Hotel on 31stb July, ahead of the commemoration of World Breastfeeding Week, which commenced on the 1st of August, and to end on 7th August next week.
She said they have joined other countries across the world to pass the Breast Milk Substitute Act, and that Parliament is working to ensure that maternal leave be increased to at least six months.
Tarawally said Parliament will also ensure shops that sell baby foods that are a health risk, be closed.
She called on all citizens to support lactating mothers to breastfeed within the first six months after giving birth.
The Deputy Minister of Trade, Fatmata Kargbo noted that they will collaborate with parliament to enact laws that will support breastfeeding.
She added that they will encourage market women to breastfeed their babies for twenty minutes after every two hours.
Breastfeeding Kargbo said is good for the growth and cognitive development of the newborn baby.
The Minister of State, Vice President Office, Manty Tarawallie said malnutrition is ‘’underestimated’’ which she believed is one of the reasons for infant mortality in Sierra Leone.
Speaking on the importance of breastfeeding, Tarawallie noted it is ‘’loaded’’ with an antibody that helps fight against viruses and bacteria in babies. “Also, breastfeeding helps to improve the child’s brain development,’’ she added.
She said breastfeeding is a fundamental right and a cornerstone for every early child development, saying it provides nutrition that helps fight off infectious diseases. She added that breastfeeding also helps to foster emotional bonds between mothers and their babies.
The Deputy Director of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Liv Elin Indreiten in her statement said breastfeeding is cost free and reduces child mortality by 16 percent, but that people don’t give importance to breastfeeding. Indreiten also urged lactating mothers to breastfeed their children for at least 6 months.
She called on the government to support breastfeeding in various ways, highlighting the legislation on breastfeeding and for healthcare workers to attend to mothers and their newborns.
“We need workplaces to accommodate maternity leave. We need the communities. A child is not raised by one person but raised by the community,” she noted.
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