Addressing Critical Knowledge Gaps in Newborn Health

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Photo Essay: Mothers in Ghana learn about breastfeeding techniques

 
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Caring for a newborn

At the Osu Maternity Home in Accra, Ghana, Rebecca Martey breastfeeds her newborn son Gerald. In the past, many women did not feed babies breast milk exclusively. Instead, a baby's diet was supplemented with water, sugar water, or other herbal concoctions, causing diarrhea and other problems.

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Teaching mothers, engaging fathers

Andres Yemetey from Ghana Infant Nutrition discusses the benefits and proper techniques of breastfeeding with Estherlyne Larkai as she feeds her daughter at the Osu Maternity Home in Accra, Ghana. Andres encourages men to be involved in breastfeeding so that mothers have the necessary support.

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Teaching is paying off

Nurse Esther Bonsu helps Florence Andoff breastfeed her newborn at La Polyclinic in Accra, Ghana. According to Ghana's Health Services, its efforts to encourage initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth, and exclusive breastfeeding, have paid off since the start of their initiative. Reports of women feeding their babies only breast milk have increased dramatically over the past 10 years.

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Benefits of Ghana's breastfeeding program

Veronica Gomez, Ghana's Health Services Breastfeeding Program Manager, greets 15-week-old Treasure Abbam and mother Felicia Owodoo at the Osu Maternity Home. On the benefits of breastfeeding, Gomez says, "There are less problems...the government now spends less money to treat such babies, who otherwise would be having diarrhea...and other problems."

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Mothers report healthier, smarter babies

Matin Epada lies in bed with her newborn son at the Osu Maternity Home in Accra, Ghana. Women who have had multiple children report that those raised exclusively on breastmilk are healthier, smarter, and develop more quickly.

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Spreading the breastfeeding message

Women wait for a breastfeeding tutorial at the Osu Maternity Home in Accra, Ghana. The government uses the radio to spread messages about breastfeeding, using songs and role-playing to connect with and reach a larger population.

USAID helps to fund this program and others like it.

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Supplementing breastfeeding with vaccines

Breast milk is considered a baby's first immunization because it contains many protective antibodies that protect against disease. But breastfeeding alone will not keep babies healthy, so at the Osu Maternity Home in Accra, Ghana, Nurse Rebecca Lartey injects four-month-old Samuel Tswumasi with a pentavalent vaccine containing five antigens that will protect him from multiple diseases.

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Sleeping newborns

Five-day-old twins lie on a bed in a maternity ward in La Polyclinic in Accra, Ghana. The World Health Organization recommends initiating breastfeeding within one hour of birth and giving only breast milk for the first six months of an infant's life.

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Mother and child

Agnes Addison and her newborn at La Polyclinic in Accra, Ghana. Breast milk is the ideal food for newborns and infants, and according to the World Health Organization, children should be breastfed up to age two or beyond. It is safe and contains antibodies that help protect infants from common childhood illnesses.

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Weighing the results

At the Osu Maternity Home in Accra, Ghana, Nurse Christina Quarshey weighs three-month-old Kwei Tetteh, who, having been raised on breast milk, came in at a healthy 12.5 pounds. His mother, Lydia Drovu, watches.

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Healthy baby

Another well-fed face. A child sleeps on her mother's back at the Osu Materinity Home in Accra, Ghana.

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This photo gallery was produced by the Living Proof project for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.