An awareness meet was organised at the Zilla Parishad to mark the commencement of the World Breastfeeding Week on Tuesday.
ZPTC member Varalakshmi, who participated as the chief guest, spoke on the importance of mother’s milk to foster the growth of the child. The mother should feed her child within an hour after birth for her own health as also that of the baby.
She said the government was granting maternity leave to working women, so that they could breastfeed their babies at home.
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ZP CEO Jayaprakash Narayan underlined the need to educate tribals on the importance of breastfeeding as they were not aware of the health benefits of breastfeeding. The future of the nation would be bright only when its children were healthy, he said. ICDS Project Director Chinmaya Devi said around 80% of women were breastfeeding their babies within an hour after birth. Stress should be on educating the remaining to make drive a success. She said a district-level rally and workshop would be organised on August 2, project-level works on the next day and demonstrations on the fourth day. There would be panchayat-level programmes and door-to-door surveys on the sixth day.