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Pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers have been cautioned to avoid alcohol consumption with warnings that the act may result in multiple range of developmental defects in their babies.
Medical Health officer in charge of Oginigba Health Centre in Port Harcourt, Dr. Cecilia Nwibubara, gave the advice, on Monday, during a two-day Health Outreach on, ‘Harmful Effects of Alcohol for Pregnant, Lactating Mothers and Women of Reproductive Age’, organised by New Nigeria Foundation (NNF) with support from the International Breweries Plc.
Dr. Nwibubara said the sensitisation became necessary following growing health defects on babies and erroneous belief by women that alcohol intake during and after pregnancy was good and safe for them.
The medical doctor maintained that alcohol is not safe for the above category of women, stressing that it can cause stillbirth, miscarriages, premature labour, results in challenges with social skills, emotional and mental disabilities.
She said: “We taught and cautioned pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to desist from consuming alcohol. We also let them know that alcohol intake affects pregnant mothers as well as the unborn babies, which could cause deformities.
“This is important because despite what alcohol does in the uterus, it also has effects on babies that are being born. Some may have problems with their social skills. If these messages are taken home, it will reduce child mortality,” she said.
Also speaking, Programme Manager of NNF, Stanley Wechie, said the sensitisation became necessary following rising effects of alcohol intake by women on their children.
He expressed hope that the training would boost delivery of healthy babies and urged mothers to refrain from taking alcoholic drinks.
Some beneficiaries of the health outreach, Faith Raphael and Glory Chidindu, described the training as an eye opener, saying they had believed that alcohol helps their babies to do well.
“I am a mother of two, I learnt that alcohol is not good for breastfeeding mothers. I used to consume large quantities of alcohol thinking it was good for my stomach after giving birth, but I have learnt the truth here,” said Mrs. Raphael.
For Glory, “I have been motivated to desist from drinking alcohol because it harms my child. I did not know about this before now, and I am sure a lot of women don’t know about this. So, there is a need for nationwide sensitisation on this issue.”
Some mothers, during the sensitization, pledged to desist from alcohol intake.
