Dr Yasangra Adeniji, a pediatrician physician, has advised nursing mothers, who are HIV positive to avoid feeding their babies with breast milk and formula feeding at the same time.
Adeniji, who is a Senior Registrar, Department of Pediatrics, Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH) Gombe, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Saturday.
According to her, mixed feeding is not advisable for babies, who are born by HIV positive mothers.
She said: “For a woman, who has been diagnosed with HIV positive and placed on medication, prior to delivery, she is advised to choose the feeding option that she wants.
“For a HIV positive mother, we encourage her to stick to one, if it is breast milk, let it be exclusive for six months before complementary feeding starts.
“If it is formula feeding, let her do it without mixing. But we are advocating exclusive breast feeding.
Adeniji said that those mothers, whose viral loads had been suppressed, could breastfeed exclusively but after six months, they can begin complementary feeding with pap.
She also said that nursing mothers, who took in, should continue breastfeeding up to the time of delivery.
“In fact, there is what we call tandem breastfeeding; both the new and the older baby can suck.
“It is a misconception that the child may fall ill for taking bad breast milk just because his or her mother is pregnant,” she said. (NAN)