Two medical experts, Mrs. Subedetu Nafiu, a family planning manager and a nutritionist, Olusola Malomo on Friday said that mothers who are breastfeeding, can also enjoy sex while breastfeeding.
They spoke in separate interviews on the sidelines of the just-concluded World Breastfeeding Week at the Ajeromi General Hospital in Ajegunle, Lagos.
The experts disagreed with the notion that sperm can contaminate breast milk during sex with breast feeding mothers.
According to Nafiu, who is also a child welfare manager, there is no relationship between sperm and breast milk. She also advised people to stop spreading false information on the child sucking sperm from breast milk. Again, she added that, the myth has made many women to stay away from performing their marital rights because they are breastfeeding and might cause more harm to marriages.
In her words, “there is no relationship between sperm and breast milk flow, a mother is free to meet her husband while she breast feeds, and women should allow their husbands to sleep with them as it doesn’t make the child sick.’’
Malomo in elaborating on the issue also said that, no child sucks sperm from the mother’s breast and sex does not disrupt any natural nutrient in the breast milk.
“The way the body was made, physiologically, sperm and breast milk cannot meet, let to say it can cause harm to the baby, so enjoy your sex life while you breast feed,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Nafiu further advised women on exclusive breastfeeding to keep up at it, saying, “it is a safe method of family planning that can help space their children.”
“The kind of exclusive breastfeeding is the one that the mother did not mix any other thing with breast milk for six months, such woman’s body biologically plans itself towards conception,’’ she said. (NAN)
