Corner of Exclusive Breastfeeding Consultation Through Empowering Breastfeeding Support Cadres in Takome Village

Abstract

The role of health cadres in health development is crucial. Specifically, for cadres with an understanding of Exclusive Breastfeeding and lactation management capable of educating the community, the capacity is still limited. The presence of breastfeeding support cadres is expected to help the community provide the best food for infants, namely exclusive breastfeeding up to the age of 6 months, followed by complementary feeding until the age of 2 years. Breastfeeding is essential for the growth of infants, hence the need for understanding among mothers to provide exclusive breastfeeding. The coverage of Exclusive Breastfeeding in infants in the North Maluku Province in 2019 was 64.36%, decreasing in 2020 to 62.41%, and increasing to 66% in 2021. Although the data in the last year increased, it is still below the national coverage of 71.58%. The method used to form a mother's breastfeeding education group is a community-based group consisting of breastfeeding support cadres and pregnant women who hold regular monthly meetings to share experiences and monitor Exclusive Breastfeeding. The goal of the breastfeeding support group is to empower breastfeeding mothers to practice early initiation of breastfeeding (IMD) and provide exclusive breastfeeding smoothly. This community service activity was carried out at the Sulamadaha Community Health Center in Ternate City, and the activity went well. Evaluation was conducted by the responsible midwife at the Integrated Health Post (posyandu) in Takome Village. The target of this activity was the cadres. The service proceeded well and smoothly thanks to the cooperation of the entire service team and the Sulamadaha Community Health Center in Ternate City.