Breast milk craze hits Tanzanian men
Adequate breast feeding counseling and support are essential for mothers to mainitain optimal breastfeeding practises. PHOTO | FILE
Breastfeeding mothers in Handeni district in Tanga region in Tanzania have asked the district commissioner, Siriel Mchembe to help them raise their voices against husbands who suck their breasts as they cause shortage of milk for their children.
The request was made during an event to commemorate breastfeeding week held at Mkata, early this week.
Men competing for breast milk with babies, a craze that began a few months ago in Uganda has now gripped men in Tanzania's coastal region of Tanga.
Answering the request DC Mchembe said said she has information that some men with the habit associate it with superstitious beliefs.
"I advise those men who are sucking their breastfeeding wives' breasts to stop with immediate effect, because it causes malnutrition since children don’t get enough milk, please stop this habit,” she said.
According to her, the vice derives from a misguided assumption that breast milk improves sexual performance, which has left children in some areas severely underweight.
Handeni District Council nutrition officer, Julia Charo said that as of June 21, this year, 3,856 children under the age of five were found to be underweight.
She said that in the case of children with stunted growth, 34% of all children referred and treated at the clinic and 7519 pregnant women who were tested for blood volume, 102 were diagnosed with severe anemia.
While it is unusual, the practice of men drinking breast milk is not new. Milk competes with drugs in the dark parts of the internet and is preferred by people on a muscle-building regimen.
Women are not asked if they want to feed their partners; the partner simply initiates it and interprets silence as agreement, according to a University of Kent study done in Uganda, which warned against it.
When asked if he was concerned that the mother would become exhausted or that the infant would not receive the milk it deserved, one man replied, “If you feed a cow well, they produce a lot of milk.” I take good care of my wife.’
