Khadijat Adeleye, a public health expert, says sustained support across family, community, workplace, health systems and policy levels are crucial to improving breastfeeding rates and maternal health outcomes.

Ms Adeleye, a maternal health advocate, said this in an interview with journalists on Sunday in Abuja.

She spoke as part of activities to mark the 2025 World Breastfeeding Week.

This year’s theme for World Breastfeeding Week, which will be observed from August 1st to 7th, is “Let’s Make Breastfeeding and Work, Work!”

The theme stresses the need to create supportive environments that enable mothers to breastfeed while balancing work commitments successfully.

The campaign highlights the importance of essential maternity rights and workplace accommodation to ensure that mothers can continue breastfeeding for as long as they choose.

Ms Adeleye said that while exclusive breastfeeding is one of the most effective interventions for reducing infant mortality, it remains underutilised in Nigeria due to fragmented support systems.

“We can not expect mothers to successfully breastfeed without consistent encouragement and structures in place, whether at home, work or the health facility.

“Support must be collective, continuous, and culturally sensitive.

“According to the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, only 29 per cent of Nigerian infants under six months are exclusively breastfed.

“That is well below the global target of 50 per cent by 2025 set by the World Health Organisation (WHO), ” she said.

She said that mothers were more likely to initiate and sustain breastfeeding when they receive early guidance from health workers, encouragement from family members, and practical support from employers.

She said that support from employers included flexible work hours and breastfeeding spaces.

Ms Adeleye also pointed to the success of mother support groups in rural areas, particularly in Benue and Kaduna States.

According to her, through such groups, community-driven initiatives have raised exclusive breastfeeding rates through peer counselling and household visits.

She urged the government to fully enforce the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, while promoting baby-friendly hospital initiatives across the country.

“Nigeria must invest in supportive systems that protect breastfeeding from being undermined by commercial interests and social pressures,” she said.

She further called on policymakers to prioritise paid maternity leave and breastfeeding-friendly workplace policies, warning that the lack of structural support continues to put both mothers and babies at risk.

She stressed the need for workplace-friendly breastfeeding policies in Nigeria. In alignment with this year’s World Breastfeeding Week theme.

“Making breastfeeding at work, work, makes societies work.

“Breastfeeding provides vital health and nutritional benefits for children with positive lifelong impacts, building healthier populations and workforces for the future,” she said.

She said that women should not have to choose between breastfeeding their children and keeping their jobs, as support is possible regardless of workplace, sector or contract type.

“Effective maternity protections improve children’s and women’s health and increase breastfeeding rates.

“Today, more than half a billion working women globally lack access to vital maternity provisions. Many more face limited or no support when they return to work,” she said.

Ms Adeleye recommended that all women, regardless of the nature of their work, should have at least 18 weeks, and preferably more than six months, of paid maternity leave.

She also advocated for paid time off to breastfeed or express milk after returning to work, along with flexible return-to-work options.

She called policymakers to strengthen existing labour laws and health sector policies to ensure that both formal and informal sector workers receive adequate breastfeeding support.

“Without such provisions, national efforts to improve maternal and child health may continue to fall short,” she said.

(NAN)