Health
Strengthening Support To Help Mothers Sustain Breastfeeding
When Mrs Amina Ibrahim gave birth to her first child, she expected breastfeeding to come naturally.
However, the first few days brought an experience she had never anticipated.
Her baby struggled to latch, leaving Ibrahim frustrated, exhausted and questioning her ability to provide the nourishment her newborn needed.
“I thought it would come naturally, but my baby struggled to latch in the first few days. I cried almost every night because I felt I was failing as a mother,” she said.
With encouragement from nurses and her husband, Ibrahim eventually overcame the difficulty and exclusively breastfed her baby for six months.
However, her experience reflects a less visible side of Nigeria’s breastfeeding challenge.
Across the country, breastfeeding is widely initiated, yet far fewer mothers sustain the recommended practices, exposing a gap between knowing that breast milk is best and having the support required to continue.
According to the 2023–2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), more than 90 per cent of Nigerian mothers breastfeed.
However, only 29 per cent of infants are exclusively breastfed for the first six months, while 36 per cent are breastfed within one hour of birth.
Health experts say the figures are concerning because early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding protect children against infections, malnutrition and preventable deaths, while supporting growth, brain development and future productivity.
For mothers outside formal employment, the pressures can begin at home, where relatives may encourage early introduction of water, herbs or other foods because of longstanding beliefs that breast milk alone is insufficient.
For working mothers, however, the challenge takes another form.
Returning to work before the baby reaches six months, without adequate breastfeeding facilities or flexible arrangements, can abruptly end exclusive breastfeeding.
Mrs Blessing Okafor, a banker and mother of a six-month-old baby, said returning to work almost ended her breastfeeding journey because her office had no breastfeeding room.
“My office has no breastfeeding room, so it became a daily struggle. Sometimes I worried my baby wasn’t getting enough breast milk,” she said.
Similarly, Mrs Nabila Umar, another mother, appealed to employers to provide conducive environments for nursing mothers.
She said inadequate maternity leave, inflexible schedules and the absence of designated breastfeeding spaces forced many working mothers to discontinue exclusive breastfeeding.
Against this backdrop, the 2026 World Breastfeeding Week, observed from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7, focused on the theme, “Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works.”
For the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), therefore, the problem is no longer simply convincing women to breastfeed, but creating conditions that allow them to sustain it.
Dr Rownak Khan, Deputy Representative of Programmes, UNICEF Nigeria, said Nigeria’s progress remained insufficient.
She identified maternity protection, breastfeeding-friendly workplaces, family support, health-worker counselling, community mobilisation and stronger enforcement of breast-milk substitute regulations as critical to reversing the trend.
“Why is it not sustained? There are different cultures, different myths and different kinds of pressure from families, community and society,” Khan said.
Beyond these social pressures, mothers may also struggle with fatigue, pain, poor positioning and food insecurity.
Mr Olusola Malomo, a dietitian with the Lagos State Health Service Commission, identified poor latching as a major challenge because incorrect positioning can make breastfeeding painful and prevent adequate transfer of milk.
He said sore nipples, breast engorgement, blocked milk ducts, perceived low milk supply, fatigue and stress were among other difficulties that could cause mothers to abandon breastfeeding.
Many of these challenges, he added, could be managed with timely professional support.
For Mrs Hauwa Sani, a mother of twins, however, the physical demands can be overwhelming.
“Breastfeeding two babies at the same time is not easy at all. I hardly get enough sleep, and I have to eat well to keep producing milk. Without my family’s support, I don’t think I would have managed through,” she said.
Food insecurity adds another dimension to the challenge.
Dr Ben Ojewola, a consultant paediatrician, said inflation and rising food prices could affect mothers’ dietary intake and discourage some from exclusive breastfeeding, especially when they are already struggling to meet household needs.
He also identified hard labour, stress and anxiety as factors that could affect breast milk production and push mothers towards formula feeding.
He stressed the need for adequate nutrition and rest for breastfeeding mothers.
Yet, health professionals say the solution does not require an entirely new intervention.
Dr Olawumi Ajayi, a public health and nutrition specialist, said the 2026 theme was deliberately centred on strengthening interventions already known to work.
These include skilled breastfeeding counselling, Baby-Friendly Hospital practices, trained health workers, supportive workplaces and community support.
“The 2026 theme is deliberately not a call for a new intervention. It is a call to strengthen what is already known to work,” she said.
In practical terms, that support should begin during pregnancy, continue through antenatal care and delivery, and extend into the home, community and workplace.
Khan said health workers needed stronger capacity to counsel pregnant women, while mothers required practical assistance immediately after delivery to initiate breastfeeding and overcome early difficulties.
For Prof. Petronila Tabansi of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria, continuous support is a “Warm Chain of Support” linking families, health workers, workplaces and communities throughout the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.
Similarly, the Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria says governments at all levels, the private sector, employers, communities, families and development partners have roles to play.
Its Executive Secretary, Mr Sunday Okoronkwo, said strengthening policies, systems and support mechanisms would help more mothers initiate breastfeeding early, exclusively breastfeed and continue breastfeeding in line with global recommendations.
To this end, the Federal Government has begun strengthening that chain through the First 1,000 Days of Life Nutrition Social and Behaviour Change Campaign, launched during the 2026 World Breastfeeding Week.
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, said the first 1,000 days constituted a critical window shaping children’s growth, brain development, future productivity and lifelong health.
He said poor nutrition during the period could result in stunting, impaired cognitive development, weakened immunity and reduced economic potential.
The government also says it is strengthening health systems, expanding nutrition services and supporting Baby-Friendly health facilities.
It is also promoting six months’ paid maternity leave and two weeks’ paid paternity leave, although some states are yet to key into the provisions.
Meanwhile, UNICEF said its advocacy had contributed to 21 of Nigeria’s 36 states adopting paid maternity leave policies.
The agency continues to support breastfeeding-friendly workplaces, national nutrition policies, social and behavioural change activities and monitoring systems.
Nevertheless, maternity leave alone may not solve the problem.
Khan stressed that workplaces must also provide designated breastfeeding spaces, while employers should adopt flexible arrangements that enable women to continue breastfeeding after resumption.
Another challenge is the growing promotion of breast-milk substitutes.
Khan said formula representatives sometimes positioned themselves around maternity facilities and offered products or gifts to mothers.
She called for strict enforcement of regulations governing breast-milk substitute marketing.
According to her, UNICEF is supporting the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to enforce the regulations and develop systems to monitor digital marketing of breast-milk substitute products.
NAFDAC’s regulatory framework prohibits promotional practices that undermine breastfeeding, while the agency has also established structures to strengthen implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.
Consequently, experts argue that enforcement must extend beyond traditional advertising to digital platforms, health facilities and community-level marketing.
At the same time, mothers and families must be equipped to recognise misinformation and make informed decisions about infant feeding.
The economic argument for breastfeeding is equally compelling.
UNICEF says improved breastfeeding practices in Nigeria could save more than 100,000 children’s lives annually, reduce healthcare treatment costs by about 22 million dollars and generate an estimated 21 billion dollars in additional economic value.
The gains, according to UNICEF, would come through improved cognitive capacity and reduced premature mortality.
At household level, breastfeeding also removes the recurring cost of infant formula.
Mrs Favour Omale, a nursing mother, said her six-month-old baby rarely fell sick and that breastfeeding had reduced her family’s feeding expenses.
“I have realised that breast milk is always available, hygienic and economical. My baby rarely falls sick, and I don’t have to spend money on infant formula,” she said.
Fathers, too, have a role in sustaining breastfeeding.
Mr Chukwuemeka Emmanuel, a father of three whose children were exclusively breastfed, urged men to support their wives through the challenges associated with breastfeeding.
“Men folk, please support your wife. Give them all the flowers. Try your best to alleviate the challenges and provide the support they need to ensure they succeed,” he said.
Taken together, the evidence suggests that Nigeria’s challenge is not a lack of knowledge about what works, but whether the country can consistently create the conditions that enable mothers to practise it.
This means government policies must translate into functioning support at state, local government, workplace and household levels.
For Nigeria, stakeholders insist that strengthening what works ultimately means recognising that breastfeeding is not simply a mother’s responsibility.
Rather, it is a shared responsibility requiring the commitment of the health system, workplaces, families and communities. (NANFeatures)
Edited by Tosin Kolade