A three-day training course on exclusive breastfeeding till first six months conducted by the Department of Nutrition at the Ministry of Health (MoH) successfully concluded at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) on Thursday.
The course, as part of the recent findings that Oman’s exclusive baby-friendly rate is 23.2 per cent and needed to be raised to 50 per cent in line with the WHO guidelines, was aimed at medical professionals including gynaecologists, nurses and others working in the maternity departments of SQUH and Armed Forces Hospital.
17 staff from SQUH, 5 workers from Armed Forces Hospital and one representative from the MoH were given intensive training on how to make our hospitals baby-friendly.
“We successfully concluded a three day course on making our hospitals baby-friendly and all the participants were given thorough training and insight on the subject which they will pass on to their colleagues and the parents whom they interact,” Amal Ibrahim, Specialist, Paediatric and Nutrition Department told the Observer.
The recent study conducted by the department has found that exclusive breastfeeding rate among the mothers in Oman is 23.2 per cent which needs to be raised to at least 50 per cent as prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, exclusive breastfeeding till first four months difference of 7.3 per cent gap is crucial in the well being of the baby.
“Although exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months is compulsory for the health benefits of both mother and the baby according to the global strategy, there’s a huge gap and we are targeting at least 50 per cent. New mothers should follow the ten steps of global strategy of maternity care and sustain the breastfeeding steps”, she said, quoting the results of the Oman National Nutrition Survey (ONNS).
Mothers who bottle-feed their babies for the first 24 months in Oman has risen to 53.9 which is alarming and such feeding is harmful to the babies.
The department has initiated a continuous training programme for all doctors, nutritionists, and health workers on how to make their hospitals mother and baby-friendly.
They should also be the campaigners for breastfeeding among the mothers and educate them on the importance of the same”, adds Dr Amal, who is also the focal point of National Infant and Child Feeding Programme.
“It starts from the care given to the pregnant women till the child is six months of exclusive breastfeeding,” Sa’ada al Mamary, coordinator at the department added.
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