The Upper West Regional Early Childhood Care and Development Committee (ECCD), has urged fathers of newborn babies to actively support their wives to breastfeed their babies.
The Committee noted that as fathers they could endeavour to make the feeding processes “a playing and joyful time for the baby to feed well without resistance”.
The committee noticed that fathers had always left the feeding of their newborns to mothers and caregivers alone, which in a way affected the wellbeing of these infants, because most caregivers were adolescents and unable to detect early signs of illness among babies.
It said children’s nutrition and their growth was important and encouraged mothers to embrace exclusive breast feeding as their top priority to ensure good health for their babies.
Pognaa Rosemary Bangzie, a Public Health Nurse at the Regional Health Directorate in a presentation, at first and second joint meeting of the Committee, urged pregnant women to visit health facilities for early medical attention.
She said some pregnant women stayed at home and only visit health facilities when the pregnancy had been six to eight months old, thereby making it difficult for health professionals to provide adequate healthcare services to reduce maternal and child deaths.
Pognaa Bangzie, who is also the Regional Adolescent School Focal Person, urged pregnant women to patronise the health facilities during pregnancies and the delivery of their babies by trained service providers for safety and to promote good health of babies and their mothers.
“Deliveries at home deny the babies of their first vaccination, especially Vitamin A, and attention must be paid to vaccination to help reduce the incidents of preventable diseases in babies,” she said.
She appealed to partners, especially husbands and community members to equally champion the crusade by raising awareness and supporting pregnant women to get quality healthcare.
Madam Gandah Olivia, the Regional Early Childhood Coordinator at the Regional Education Office, who made a presentation on the early childhood school situation in the region, said there were 1,200 communities in the region and about 728 public kindergarten schools.
She said about 300 communities were still without Kindergarten (KGs) schools and appealed for more facilities to be provided to take care of children who were at the right ages to be enrolled into school.
Madam Gandah said some of the KGs had no adequate furniture and classroom facilities, and teaching and learning resources to help facilitate effective teaching and learning.