BY SHARON BUWERIMWE MARTHA Mhlanga (32) (not real name), mother of a one-year-old, sweats while seated on the doorstep of her Chigonda village home, Chipinge, Manicaland province.
She is pondering her next move after discovering that she is pregnant. This was a case of an unplanned pregnancy to be precise.
Mhlanga is in a dilemma because she is still breastfeeding. She is thinking of weaning off her one-year-old baby because of the current predicament. But doing so would attract community censure for weaning too early, the “mandatory” breastfeeding period being at least two years as cast in cultural norm stone.
Meanwhile, according to customary laws, if a village head or chief discovers that she is breastfeeding while pregnant, a fine awaited her (a beast and a cockerel).
The mother of three has been fined before and the family cannot afford to lose another beast.
In her community, it is taboo to continue breastfeeding once you get pregnant with claims that pregnancy “contaminates” breast milk.
Those found on the wrong side of the law are heavily fined by traditional leaders.
Mhlanga’s case is, however, just the tip of the iceberg.
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Her case mirrors the struggle of many women who lack knowledge on issues of breastfeeding.
Speaking during a tour organised by the Health and Child Care ministry, in conjunction with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Zimbabwe in Manicaland province, Chipinge village head George Maphosa said the law was introduced to prevent infant mortality due to malnutrition because there was a strong belief among communities that breast milk of a pregnant woman was contaminated.
“We punish those who breastfeed their babies while pregnant and it is a serious issue in our community. We have people and village health workers who report mothers defying this law. These families pay a fine of a beast.
“We sat down with the chief and this is what we agreed on. Ever since we introduced this law, no one is breastfeeding while pregnant. We don’t tolerate such a habit because the milk will be dirty. This will result in children getting sick because of the milk,” Maphosa said.
However, nutritionists think otherwise and rubbished Maphosa’s assertions. They, instead, recommend that pregnant women should continue breastfeeding until labour if they have children who need their milk.
According to health experts, breastfeeding has cognitive and health benefits for both infants and mothers and is critical during the first six months of life, helping prevent diarrhoea and pneumonia which are two major causes of infant mortality.
Health and Child Care ministry national nutrition officer Chj Chikanda said they recorded a decline in breastfeeding women due to a number of reasons which include a rise in breastfeeding substitutes, formal work commitments and a general fear among women that breastfeeding flattens their breasts.
“Looking at the statistics regarding breastfeeding and infant feeding, 10 in every 100 women are failing to breastfeed and this is due to a number of reasons. Looking at the number of children breastfed up to two years, from one year going upwards, it was at 83% and it’s now down to 61%. This is worrisome and it means women are losing confidence in breastfeeding,” Chikanda said, warning that malnutrition cases are set to rise if breastfeeding continues to decline.
“Most cases of acute malnutrition arise due to poor feeding practices post-weaning. Some families might fail to provide a balanced meal for the child. So we encourage women to breastfeed up to the age of two,” she added.
Health ministry, in partnership with Unicef, said they were working with communities in demystifying myths around breastfeeding ahead of World Breast Feeding commemorations next month.
Chipinge district nutritionist Samukeliso Masikati indicated that 4,5% of 65 000 children in the country were affected by acute malnutrition due to premature weaning.
“There is sudden weaning that occurs when a mother becomes pregnant. We have seen that children then suffer from malnutrition.
”Once weaned, they are not given nutritious food to maintain their health,” Masikati said.
Global acute malnutrition rates in Chipinge district stand at 9%, while acute malnutrition rate is standing at 4,5%, according to Masikati. The moderate acute malnutrition rate is at 4,5% and 2% out of 65 000 under-fives are affected by malnutrition.
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