A Mother’s Take on Exclusive Breast-Feeding

‘It takes a village to raise a child’

This famous saying comes to my mind when I think about my exclusive breast feeding experience. It was not an easy one and required a lot of patience and perseverance, intake of proper nourishment and most importantly devoted time.

I had a very difficult pregnancy, where I was largely home-bound for the whole term. As a development professional and a child rights crusader knowing the benefits of exclusive breast feeding, I was determined to offer my child nothing but breast milk for first six months. The phase, though extremely fulfilling, wasn’t an easy one and I owe it to a lot of people who guided and supported me during the period.

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Fighting Malnutrition for Child Welfare in Chhattisgarh with Kitchen Gardens

Introducing kitchen gardens in anganwadis in Chhattisgarh is an initiative that will be an effective step towards addressing malnutrition in one of the poorest states of the country. This has greatly boosted the morale of the anganwadi workers working in the region where the situation of malnutrition is worrying. In a bid to provide fresh and healthy food to children and expectant mothers, anganwadis in remote areas of Gariyaband and Korba district have set up kitchen gardens in their backyards. Child support and welfare are the prime objectives for any anganwadi.

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Changing minds, Changing behaviors – Beliefs and practices of tribal women about breastfeeding

The village of Vijayanagar (Patparpali panchayat, Chura block, District Gariyaband) lying near the border of Chattisgarh and Odisha, is inhabited by tribal residents. Rukamani Bai Markam, 28 and her husband, Kaliram Markam, are permanent residents of this village. Rukmini a mother of three, Tankeshwari (9 years), Priti (4 years) and Isa (14 months) gave birth to her first two children at home, and due to prevailing stereotypes they were not fed colostrum (the first milk produced by the mother after giving birth).READ MORE