Toyin Saraki’s Wellbeing Foundation Partners Medela For Breast feeding Improvement

Wellbeing Foundation Africa ( WBFA), which has H.E Mrs Toyin Saraki as Founder/ President has sealed a partnership with Medela, the numero uno breast pump brand usually recommended by doctors and used in many hospitals.

The great news which is coming in commemoration of the World Breast Feeding Week is aimed at improving breast feeding support and resources in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) in Nigeria.

As part of this partnership, Medela and The Wellbeing Foundation Africa will work together to improve the support offered to new mothers in Nigeria by delivering NICU-specific education and training on the value of human milk and how to build sufficient milk supply for long-term breastfeeding. This work will involve frontline healthcare workers, nonprofit organizations and government agencies.

“Medela’s long history as a global player in breastfeeding research, products, technology and innovation is the perfect partner for Wellbeing Foundation Africa in our quest to improve Nigeria’s prevalence of breastfeeding and our focus on NICU support,” said Her Excellency Toyin Ojora Saraki, Founder and President Well Being Foundation Africa. “Ensuring new mothers are wholly supported to breastfeed is not only critical for the health and wellbeing of the baby: it can be linked to all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”

Nigeria ranks 6th highest in the world for infant mortality and complications due to prematurity is the leading cause of death2. 47% of the deaths of children below 5 years occur in the first 28 days of life, many of them are preventable3 and can be addressed through improved nutrition with mother’s milk. Today Nigeria has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world with only 17% of mothers exclusively breastfeeding their children for 6 months4. Sub-optimal breastfeeding practices (globally) prompted the World Health Assembly to set a global goal to improve breastfeeding rates to 50% by the year 20305.

As a supporting member of the Global UN Compact and the Every Women, Every Child movement, Medela is committed to partnering with organizations to improve breastfeeding rates globally to meet the 2030 Breastfeeding goals. Medela’s new global corporate social responsibility program, Medela Cares, is dedicated to improving the lives of moms, babies and patients through education and support, as well as through technologies, research and services.

“Research shows us that breast milk is critical for growth and overall health for newborns and is a low-cost and highly effective intervention that can prevent infant death,” said Annette Brüls, CEO of Medela worldwide. “We are thrilled to partner with The Wellbeing Foundation Africa as part of our commitment to the UN’s Every Woman, Every Child movement to better the lactation care provided to mothers and ultimately improve the infant feeding and health outcomes in Nigeria.”

The partnership will commence with a webinar and panel discussion on August 7th about breastfeeding in high-risk countries, a panel discussion with Her Excellency Toyin Ojara Saraki, Founder and President WBFA, Annette Bruels, CEO Medela, Mrs Rita Momoh, WBFA Midwife and Dr. Danielle Prime, lactation scientist Medela. Panelists will discuss the urgent need to address infant mortality and share how midwives and mothers can be supported to champion breastfeeding efforts in high risk countries such as Nigeria.

With headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, and a U.S.-based manufacturing and development facility in McHenry, Illinois, Medela supports millions of moms and babies and patients in 100 countries all over the world with medical vacuum solutions. Medela is family-owned medical device company that prides itself on being research based.

On its part, WBFA was founded in 2004 with the aim of improving health outcomes for women, infants, and children.

WBFA combines programmes with advocacy work in Nigeria and around the world.

More than 200,000 women have taken part in WBFA’s flagship ‘MamaCare’ classes in Nigeria. WBFA midwives transform the lives of mothers, their children, and their communities by providing healthcare training to a global standard.
In 2018, the organization launched a WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) programme and has worked with partners such as Global Water 2020 to save lives and meet global health goals in the countries it serves. For more information, visit https://www.wbfafrica.org