International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Mothers in Ghana have been encouraged to breastfeed their babies.

According to Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF), this can be a good way of establishing a close emotional bond with an infant, the Public Agenda reports.

Veronica Gomez, a consultant at IYCF, noted that breastfeeding can also have a number of wider benefits.

For instance, she argued the practice can lead to children becoming more intelligent and give them better emotional security in later life.

Furthermore, Ms Gomez noted that breastfed babies tend to cry less than those that are fed from a bottle.

She made the claims at a seminar arranged by the Ghana Health Service, in which the issue of feeding babies was discussed at length by various speakers.

The World Health Organization is one body that recommends breastfeeding and it believes it should commence less than an hour after a baby has been born.

Mothers are advised to exclusively breastfeed their child for six months and then introduce complementary foods later on.

Posted by David Smith