Himalaya creates a rural connect to highlight importance of breastfeeding

Himalaya Baby Care, a leading wellness brand for mothers and babies, has curated a platform enabling interactive sessions between mothers who have little access to healthcare information and experts from medical fraternity on their concerns related to breastfeeding. On Tuesday, over 100 mothers and young unmarried women in the age group of 18-26 years attended the interactive session, which was addressed by Mumbai-based well-known Lactation Consultant, Joyce Jaiseelan.

“In the urban cities, women have timely access to advanced facilities and information that talks about the importance of breastfeeding. However, there is lack of awareness among the women in the rural backdrop. World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) indicates that poverty can be reduced significantly through breastfeeding. Hence, it is vital to connect with the people in the rural parts to emphasise the importance of breastfeeding. Through this initiative, we intend to educate them on the critical aspects of breastfeeding that will contribute to the theme of this year’s Breastfeeding Week - Sustainable Development of the society. We regularly conduct such specific programmes for rural women to promote the wellbeing of the society,” said NV Chakravarthy, General Manager, Himalaya Baby Care.

Through the session, Jaiseelan emphasised on the importance of breastfeeding and its health benefits for children and for mothers themselves. Speaking on the nutritional aspects of mother’s and baby, Jaiseelan said, “Mothers should exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of life and continue to be breastfeed up to 2 years of age and beyond, considering its extraordinary range of health benefits. Breast milk provides all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals an infant needs for growth in the initial six months. Babies who are breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months, without any formula feeding, have fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses, and bouts of diarrhoea.”