The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has urged breastfeeding mothers to exclusively breastfeed their babies for six months after birth to ensure that they get the right proportions of nutrients for their healthy growth.

Mrs Veronica Gomez, Former Project Coordinator of the Ghana Health Service, at a press conference in Accra to mark the week-long celebration of World Breastfeeding Day said, this would provide high quality nutrients and adequate energy that would prevent hunger and malnutrition.

The theme: “Breastfeeding: a Winning Goal for Life” indicates the importance of increasing and sustaining the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding - in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) countdown.

She expressed worry over the drastic drop in exclusive breastfeeding rates in the country, which had gone down from 63.7 per cent in 2008 to about 46 percent in 2011, saying the figure could be even lower considering the time lapse. She said breastfeeding was natural and low cost feeding method for babies, and mothers should feed on demand, as it was affordable and does not over burden household budgets, compared to artificial feeding.

Mrs Gomez said breast milk had been naturally designed such that the antibodies in it protect the baby from illness and also serves as a boost to the child’s immune system in such an irreplaceable way. Adequate complementary feeding are fundamentals for readiness to learn and significantly contribute to mental; and cognitive development.

According to her breastfeeding was associated with decrease bleeding after delivery and facilitates delivery placenta, decrease risk of ovarian, breast and endometrial cancer.

She said improved breastfeeding practice alone reduced infant mortality by 13 per cent and as such only half of all pregnant women in the developing world, especially sub-Saharan Africa received the recommended minimum of four antenatal visits.

Mrs Gomez urged mothers not to rely on infant formulas and pacifiers as they lead to nipple confusion and prevents babies from getting the right nutrients for healthy growth.

She said the GHS intends to revive its nationwide advocacy and education on the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding and also heighten public knowledge on the consequences of depriving babies from obtaining the required nutrition for their proper growth and future development.