St. Catherine mothers reluctant to breast-feed exclusively

A shock response came from the audience in Linstead, St. Catherine, when it was disclosed that less than 5 percent of mothers in the parish are exclusively breastfeeding their babies.

In making the revelation, the Medical Officer of Health for St. Catherine, Dr Francia Prosper-Chen, said: “Exclusive breast-feeding means that we give our babies only breast milk – no water, no mint tea, nothing else – just breast milk for the first full six months of life.

“We have not been able to achieve even 50 percent of these babies being exclusively breast-fed. In fact, we are less than five percent,” she said.

When the relatively large audience heard the figure disclosed during a community meeting on February 20, a number of persons chorused: “Wow!”

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