Bizzare has rocke Thika town after a 25-year-old woman was on Tuesday arrested in Thika town for allegedly refusing to breastfeed her baby unless she was paid by her husband.
Faith Nyokabi abandoned her 4-month-old baby at her matrimonial home in Kiganjo Estate over a week ago and refused to return without receiving Ksh.100,000 in cash from her husband, Charles Kiiri.
According to the 36-year-old Kirii who is a casual labourer he was informed on August 1, 2018 that his wife had taken off and left their infant in the house.
He reportedly rushed home and found the baby under the care of neighbours who told him that the baby had been abandoned immediately he left for work.
According to Kiiri he pleaded with his wife to return home and breastfeed the baby but she told him that her mother had taken her to a local hospital where she was injected with a drug to stop milk production.
Nyokabi is also reported to have told the husband that she was fine but was abandoning the child and wouldn’t go back unless he gave her the money.
The frustrated husband reported the matter to the Thika Children’s Offices and was referred to Murang’a Children’s Offices.
Kiiri said the main issue between the two was occasioned by his mother in-law whom he accused of making frequent financial demands.
Mwangi advised the father to look for a temporary caregiver to look after the infant under his watch as the court handles the matter.
For infants, not being breastfed is associated with an increased incidence of infectious morbidity, as well as elevated risks of childhood obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, leukemia, and sudden infant death syndrome.
For mothers, failure to breastfeed is associated with an increased incidence of premenopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer, retained gestational weight gain, type 2 diabetes, myocardial infarction, and the metabolic syndrome.
Obstetricians are uniquely positioned to counsel mothers about the health impact of breastfeeding and to ensure that mothers and infants receive appropriate, evidence-based care, starting at birth.
These findings suggest that infant feeding is an important modifiable risk factor for disease for both mothers and infants. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) therefore recommends 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding for all infants.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) similarly recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life, continuing at least through the infant’s first birthday, and as long thereafter as is mutually desired. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least 2 years of breastfeeding for all infants.