Ogunyemi, however, advised them to use breast covers to maintain privacy.
She emphasised that breastfeeding was the easiest and cheapest way to feed babies, stating that it protected the family’s finances and created a safe environment.
Ogunyemi spoke at a press briefing on the upcoming 2024 World Breastfeeding Week and Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health plus Newborn Week.
The World Breastfeeding Week is held annually on August 1-7 to create awareness and initiate action on the importance of breastfeeding. According to the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, WBW is celebrated in commemoration of the 1990 Innocenti Declaration.
The World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children’s Fund recommend that babies initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed within the first six months of life.
The WHO states that breastfeeding provides all the energy and nutrients that infants need for the first months of life and is important to ensure optimal growth and development for increased chances of survival.
The agency noted that about half of infants under six months old were exclusively breastfed.