Men, Babies: Experts speak on who owns a woman's breast

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Chief Medical Director (CMD) at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Professor  Wale Oke has advised men to stop competing with their babies to suck the wife’s breasts.

Professor Oke made the call on Wednesday at the World Breastfeeding Week (WBW), organised by LASUTH Community Health Department in conjunction with the hospital’s Pediatrics.

The Director, who noted that the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding are many, enjoined all men to allow their babies enjoy their natural meal.

He said: “When a mother breastfeeds her baby, it creates bond between them. It is also a natural family mechanism as mothers cannot get pregnant. Breastfeeding mothers do not have bone diseases, breast and ovarian cancers.”

Oke observed that the state has created an enabling environment for mothers with its policies to work and still feed their babies effectively.

“Working and breastfeeding can go together if mothers try because it is necessary to have healthy babies,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode called on mothers to breastfeed their babies exclusively for six months to ensure that babies remain healthy.

This, according to her, will prevent babies from coming down with childhood diseases, such as cough, diarrhea and catarrh, among others.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the state’s Civil Service Pension Office, Mrs Ademola Olabowale, Mrs Ambode, said medical science has made it known that breast supplies basic nutrients to newborn babies adding that the breast milk remains the most important protein for babies’ growth.

“The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months, and mixed breastfeeding up to two years,” she added.

Breast milk, she said, usually helps to build the immunity for the newborns, saying it would protect them from childhood killer diseases.

The state government, she said, has reviewed maternity leave for women in the state Civil Service from three to six months, adding that Lagos State is the only state in Nigeria where men go on paternity leave to support their wives with the burden of raising a new baby.