​As the global community observes World Breastfeeding Week from 1 – 7 August 2024, the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) encourages mothers to breastfeed for optimum health and wellbeing of both mother and child. 

South Africa is currently experiencing low exclusive breastfeeding rates, furthermore, the 2023/2024 District Health Information System data shows that exclusive breastfeeding in Gauteng is currently at 42.7% at 14 weeks of infancy, dropping drastically to 7.4% at six months. This contributes to undernutrition with Gauteng reporting fatality rate of 6.4% for severe acute malnutrition in 2023/2024. 

“Breastfeeding offers unmatched health benefits for mothers and their children. As the baby develops, a mother’s breastmilk provides the perfect nutrition tailored to the baby's needs, boosting immunity and reducing the risk of infections. Infants who are breastfed exclusively for the first six months of life are less likely to suffer from common illnesses such as diarrhea and pneumonia,” states Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko.

The MEC points out that in response to this year’s theme: "Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All," the GDoH is implementing several initiatives aimed at promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding such as providing comprehensive services to support mothers in exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continuing up to two years and beyond. 

“All public hospitals in the province are implementing the Mother Baby Friendly Initiative (MBFI) and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) which are initiatives that focuses on improving the care and outcomes for mothers and their newborn babies. Furthermore, the MBFI outlines a set of 10 steps that hospitals and maternity centers can implement to become "baby-friendly" and promote breastfeeding,” states Nkomo-Ralehoko. 

Through the KMC method, healthcare workers at public hospitals ensures that low birthweight and preterm infants have access to exclusive breastfeeding or provision of the mother's breast milk. This method has proven effective in promoting breastfeeding, reducing the risk of infections and improving long-term growth and development outcomes. 

The GDoH continues to advocate and promote exclusive breastfeeding and further urge all arms of society such as workplaces and churches to provide the necessary support to breastfeeding mothers. 

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Issued by the Gauteng Department of Health