Sharjah Baby Friendly Emirate Campaign becomes the first UAE initiative to celebrate from World Breastfeeding Week to National Breastfeeding Week with 4-month series of activities

Sharjah Baby Friendly Emirate Campaign announces activities to empower mothers from World Breastfeeding Week to make Sharjah a global pacemaker in mother-friendliness

Sharjah Baby Friendly Emirate Campaign (SBFEC) is launching a four-month series of activities to support breastfeeding mothers and position Sharjah as a global leader in mother-friendliness and baby-friendliness. This comes as Sharjah joins about 180 countries in celebrating World Breastfeeding Week between 1-7 August, and is part of the first Emirati initiative stretching from the international celebrations until National Breastfeeding Week between 10-16 November.

Various health specialists will educate the community on the numerous benefits of breastfeeding for the mother and child, sharing scientific and practical expertise through such lecture topics as ‘Breastfeeding in the early days,’ ‘Breastfeeding and returning to work,’ ‘Weaning’ and others. The lectures will be offered in the morning and evening at various participating hospitals and health centers across the emirate.

Audio-visual educational materials have been specially prepared by the campaign to help the lecture participants absorb the advice in a clear and interactive way. Mothers will greatly benefit whether they have newborns or children at more advanced stages.

Her Excellency Sheikha Budoor bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) and President of the Sharjah Baby Friendly Emirate Campaign (SBFEC) explained: "The emirate of Sharjah aspires to create one of the world’s most mother-friendly and baby-friendly environments. Breastfeeding is a vital part of our goal, specifically exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months - as these are the most crucial stages of a baby’s physical and intellectual development. Therefore we have prepared diverse programs and activities to benefit people from all segments of society and future generations."

The extended four-month schedule for activities bridging the gap between World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Week will raise awareness of the need to increase the proportion of breastfeeding mothers. The campaign also plans to launch more activities supporting the four major initiatives covering nurseries, public places, workplaces and hospitals.

The activities are in line with this year’s international theme: “Breastfeeding Support: Close to Mothers,” and come amid alarming research from advanced countries with similar lifestyles to the UAE.

Although the UAE enjoys a higher breastfeeding rate than many advanced countries, only about a third of UAE babies are exclusively breastfed for 6 months, which is the minimum period recommended by the WHO before introducing complementary foods until 24 months. The WHO estimates that this would save the lives of over 1.5 million children every year worldwide, while saving governments astronomical amounts in healthcare.

 Explaining the importance of mother support networks, Dr Hessa Khalfan Al Ghazal, Director of the Executive Committee for the Sharjah Baby-Friendly Emirate Campaign said: “Modern lifestyles are evolving, so we must also evolve our methods in sync with the times. The family and the hospital are no longer the mother’s sole support circles. We appreciate that mothers of newborn babies can get extremely busy and overwhelmed - so rather than waiting for them to visit a hospital, we will be more proactive and more mobile by going to them through fellow mothers, their social networks, communities, workplaces and more. You might not be a lactation expert, but being a supportive friend is all the qualification you need to get training and advise other mothers - because moral support can be just as important as professional support.”

SBFEC has already made impressive progress in implementing the Ten Steps recommended by the WHO, and is now focusing on creating support groups in nurseries as well as workplaces, and referring mothers to them upon discharge following childbirth.  

The campaign is now urging all supporters of breastfeeding to empower themselves and their loved ones by receiving training at these lectures so that they can support their friends, family members, workmates and other mothers regardless of their educational background.

The Sharjah Baby Friendly Emirate Campaign was initiated in March 2012 under the generous patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Budoor bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) and President of the Campaign. The campaign encompasses four initiatives: Breastfeeding-Friendly Nurseries, Mother and Baby-Friendly Public Places, Mother-Friendly Workplaces and Baby-Friendly Health Facilities. The campaign is sponsored by Sharjah Islamic Bank.