Garissa: Nomadism, poor nutrition 'to blame for mothers being unable to exclusively breastfeed babies'

WHO also recommends that mothers do complementary feeding – breastfeeding their babies even when they have started taking solids after six months – until infants reach two years of age.

Although statistics from the county's nutrition department show that there has been an increase of 37% of mothers breastfeeding up to six months, the drought situation in many areas of the county has hindered efforts to reach the 100% mark.

Reports show that in Kenya the percentage of women who breastfeed their newborns within the first hour after delivery is 60%, those who do so within the first two days is 83%, but the percentage decreases drastically as time goes, with just 40% exclusively breastfeeding their babies when they are between 4-5 months. 

As the World Breastfeeding Week is marked globally during the first week of August, stakeholders in the health sector have called for the development of programmes to motivate mothers, especially those living in rural areas, about the importance of breastfeeding children for the first six months.

 Salma Hassan, a community health volunteer in Garissa, said, "A mother has to be well hydrated and get good nutritition to be able to produce milk, but many times you'll find the mothers are not producing milk for lack of food due to high levels of poverty."

"This has caused many mothers to resort to mixing their breastmilk with water or supplementing with whatever they find."

Halima Osman, another community health volunteer, said that many mothers in Garissa are themselves underweight and it is therefore a challenge for them to feed their children.

"Many have to be given peanuts and other foods in a bid to increase their weight. The government should help mothers so that they are able to produce milk," she said.

Shamat Yusuf, a nutritionist, said that nomadism has not helped the situation as mothers are unable to keep up with exclusive breastfeeding.