Two medical experts, Mrs Subedetu Nafiu, a Family Planning Manager and Mr Olusola Malomo, a Nutritionist, on Friday said that breastfeeding mothers could still enjoy sex while breastfeeding.
The experts spoke in separate interviews with the PREMIER NEWSPAPER on the sidelines of the just-concluded World Breastfeeding Week at the Ajeromi General Hospital in Ajegunle, Lagos.
The experts debunked the notion that sperm could contaminate breast milk, during sex with breastfeeding mothers.
Nafiu, who is also a child welfare manager, said that there was no relationship between sperm and breast milk and that people should stop spreading false information on whether the child would suck sperm from breast milk.
“This myth makes many women to stay away from performing their marital rights because they are breastfeeding and might cause more harm to marriages.
“There is no relationship between sperm and breast milk flow, a mother is free to meet her husband while she breastfeeds.
“Women should allow their husbands to sleep with them, it doesn’t make the child sick,’’ she said.
Nafiu advised women on exclusive breastfeeding, 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.
To corroborate the information, Malomo also said that no child sucks sperm from mother’s breast and sex doesn’t 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 breastfeed,” he said.