Director of the Institute of Health Research at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Professor Alexander Manu, says breastfeeding a baby within the first hour after birth reduces the child’s risk of dying by 50 percent.
Speaking at the JoyNews National Dialogue on Investment in Newborn Health: Giving Preterm Babies a Strong Start, Prof. Manu said scientific evidence shows that early initiation of breastfeeding saves lives and improves long-term development outcomes.
According to him, studies conducted in Kintampo showed that “if you breastfeed a child in the first hour after birth, if you initiate breastfeeding, you cut their deaths by half. Half of all babies that die, if you breastfeed them within the first hour, you cut half out of it.”
Prof. Manu added that breast milk provides critical nutrition and protection that no substitute can match.
“If you breastfeed a child, it is food from the mother, so you have less allergies… The development of the brain is also promoted by breast milk… they perform better in school, they have better economic productivity,” he said.
He added that human breast milk remains a “game-changer”, promoting survival, bonding, and long-term development.
He said that Ghana must invest deliberately in systems that help mothers breastfeed and keep newborns alive.
“If Ghana wants a future for our newborns, it must cost us something. We need the right equipment… health workers must be motivated.”
Prof. Manu highlighted structural gaps, including the lack of breast milk banks, inadequate maternity leave, and workplaces that do not provide safe breastfeeding spaces, as major barriers to newborn survival.
“We are given three months of maternity leave, but we are expecting mothers to breastfeed for six months,” he said
He also pointed out that many workplaces, including hospitals and universities, offer no private spaces for breastfeeding.
“You can imagine… you take out your breast and you start breastfeeding in the class, or where? There are no spaces created in many places to allow mothers to breastfeed,” he said.
Prof. Manu urged policymakers to be intentional about investing in newborn health, especially for preterm babies.
“Sometimes we think it is sophisticated equipment that saves lives. But normally it is not. It is the smallest things that we do,” he said.