The Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation, Primary Health Care Corporation and private hospitals in Qatar are celebrating the World Breastfeeding Week from August 1-7.
Healthcare institutions in the country launched an awareness campaign on the importance of breastfeeding and its benefits for mothers and babies.
The campaign focuses on the importance of mother’s milk and encourages mothers to rely on breastfeeding, by highlighting the drawbacks of baby formulas.
The campaign also addresses some of the common misconceptions on breastfeeding.
In order to encourage breastfeeding, HMC has allocated breastfeeding clinics in the outpatient departments of the Women’s Health and Research Center and Al Wakra Hospital, which operate from Sunday to Thursday from 7am until 3pm. The PHCC has designated places for breastfeeding consultations in maternity and childhood clinics in primary healthcare centres, operating from Sunday to Thursday.
Head of an initiative on healthy children and teenagers Sadriya al-Kahwaji, part of the National Health Strategy Ministry of Public Health, said that a high priority has been given to breastfeeding, noting that they have a target to increase breastfeeding by 15% in the first six months of the baby’s life.
She added that the ministry, in co-operation with the HMC and the PHCC, is working on enhancing breastfeeding among children younger than six months, aiming to lower the mortality rate of children under five years of age. — QNA
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