BSS, Rajshahi :
More than 9,000 working pregnant and lactating mothers received allowance worth around Taka 9.48 crore here during last seven and half years till June 30 last. They received the support in four phases under ‘Working Lactating Mothers Assistance Fund Program’ and 2,500 others will get the allowance in all 30 wards under Rajshahi City Corporation by June 2018.
“We have also brought 3,890 more lactating mothers under the allowance in 14 municipalities in the district till last June,” said Shahanaz Begum, District Women Affairs Officer, while talking to BSS here. She said the mothers along with their infants were given necessary antenatal and postnatal healthcare services for maintaining their sound health and to produce sufficient milk for their growing babies.
Each pregnant or lactating mother gets an allowance of Tk 500 per month up to 24 months as adequate diets for them deserve special attention. Mothers aged at least 20 years and above having monthly income of Tk 5,000 or less get the allowance for a baby only one time. Beneficiary mothers draw the allowance through a bank account in four installments. The primary goal of the programme is to safeguard the health of infants, young children and women who are pregnant or postpartum.
Dr Shahela Jeshmin, Associate Professor in Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH), said the lactating mothers need special care, more nutrition and higher calorie than other women as they need more significant quantity of energy as the mother have pivotal role to bring up the newborn babies with sound health, mind and attitude. To ensure healthy nutritional status during pregnancy and breastfeeding, most of the foods the mothers consume each day should be high in vitamins and minerals.
Dr Jeshmin emphasized the need for proper physical and mental development of children for building a healthy and mentally sound nation and viewed that ensuring fundamental rights of the children has become indispensable for attaining the cherished goal. Brig General AKM Rafiqul Islam, Director of RMCH, said the present government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been implementing multifarious development programmes for building the children as competent and physically and mentally sound. In this field, the allowance is very much effective.
There is a breastfeeding corner in RMCH from where many lactating mothers get their necessary services. “Breastfeeding provides health, nutritional, economical and emotional benefits to mothers and babies,” he said.
“These funds assist families as they work to improve breastfeeding support for mothers that impart long term health benefits to their infants.”
By dint of time-fitting and multidimensional interventions, many of the poor and marginalized pregnant and lactating mothers are availing their essential antenatal and postnatal health services in the city eradicating pregnancy and childbirth related complications remarkably.
With this breakthrough, the rate of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity has been reduced to a greater extent. Actually, such type of incident has now become rare at present even among the underprivileged areas and communities, said Azuba Aktar Sumi, a housewife of Boro Bangram area.
“I got all sorts of antenatal and postnatal cares during my pregnancy and delivery time from Tilottoma, a Voluntary Women’s Organization, at Nawdapara” she said while talking to BSS here Thursday lapping her three months baby.
