Dr. Bijayalaxmi Panda, State Lead-partnerships, The Antara Foundation
Today I remember the initial golden days of my life to see my six-year-old son who is happily playing and enjoying with his father during leisure time at home. Then I realized how important the role of the father is for the development of the child. I recall my memory which was discussed at WCD during an influencers’ meeting on 22nd July 2024 on the responsibility of fathers towards promoting breastfeeding.
This platform motivated and refreshed me about my journey when I delivered a baby boy through C-section on 8th June 2018 at 1.30 pm at one of the well-known private hospitals in Jaipur, Rajasthan. My son was healthy, and his weight was 3.5 kg because of my own health and nutritional care, strong willpower, the support of my husband during my pregnancy duration for eating all healthy food and a positive environment at my home, counseling of my doctor towards me and my husband in each health check-up and positive attitude and support of my colleague at the office. I realized the importance of all these aspects after my delivery when I saw my child healthy. I got the best patient award from my doctor for taking on all responsibilities with patience and positivity.
After delivery, only my husband was with me at the hospital for 3 days and he took all his responsibilities without any delay. His support was remarkable in that he not only cared for the baby but also for my health. I was surprised when he requested a staff nurse to support me in the early initiation of breastfeeding though it was difficult in C-section delivery. But he continuously counseled me to hold the baby and skin-to-skin contact. I was not able to sit and position my son properly. But due to his efforts and support, first milk I gave my son within 12 hours. I realized how a husband can support you psychologically and emotionally if nobody is available to you. Before discharge from the hospital, he requested my elder sister to come from Odisha to Jaipur for a few days to take care of my health during the daytime because he had to join the office due to some urgent work. After discharge from the hospital, he follows up regularly for breastfeeding as well for my health. He learned from the staff nurse how to burp after giving breastmilk and he taught me and my mother-in-law to follow this every time.
During World Breastfeeding Week (1 to 7th August), everywhere we celebrate and promote early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, and complementary feeding. To promote male engagement, responsibility, and father involvement, WCD, MP organized a meet with influencers where WCD officials, Nutrition experts, Doctors, blog writers, media, social media influencers, and Development partners participated and discussed how to mass awareness through the strong positive involvement of influential personality for promoting breastfeeding. It can be through our personal experiences, small reels, photo collages, photo galleries, stories from the field and testimonials, writing blogs, IEC, etc.
I am fortunate to be part of this influencers meet to share my messages to motivate others. Though we are aware of the importance of breastfeeding, sometimes we forget due to other factors. Here role of a husband is very important to keep motivating for a healthy baby and a healthy mother by influencing and engaging family members as well.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
I want to acknowledge Dr. Himani Yadav, DD-CH, NHM, and Ms. Nisha Jain, IEC division, WCD, MP for always motivating in writing our personal and field experiences.
