Ejisu (Ash), Jan 11, GNA - A Nutritionist has advised mothers to feed their babies solely on breast milk for the first six months after birth without giving them water.

Madam Agatha Klevor, Ejisu-Juaben District Nutrition Officer, said this was important because, "breast milk contains adequate water and all the right vitamins in the right proportion that babies need for their growth and development".

Madam Klevor was speaking on the "Importance of breast milk to growth of the child" at a workshop on safe motherhood organised by the District Health Service at Ejisu.

It was to inculcate in Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), Village Health Committees (VHCs) and Queen mothers, skills for reaching out to mothers with educational messages on breast milk and ante and post-natal clinic.

She explained that breast milk already contained about 80 percent of water adding that, giving additional water to a baby already feeding on breast milk would be unwise and could even lead to diarrhoea. "Giving any solid food to the baby at that tender age was equally not advisable since the breast milk was food in itself and could sustain the baby enough," Madam Klevor added.

Nana Osei Boafo, Senior Medical Assistant in-charge of the Ejisu Government Hospital, entreated husbands of pregnant women not to wait only till the time their wives deliver before "showering them with all the relevant foods and luxuries".

He said their support and care should start as soon as they were pregnant through much closer interaction and encouragement of their wives to attend the antenatal clinics.

Miss Lydia Owusu-Ansah, Public Health Officer and a facilitator of the workshop, dispelled speculations that women who adopted the family planning methods to control births would not be pregnant when they ceased using the method and decide to have babies. 11 Jan 04