Building Breastfeeding Support in Rural Ghana
By,
MaryBeth Semosky, MS, MPH'26
My project began with a simple goal: supporting breastfeeding practices and education in Ghana's Bono region by strengthening local health workers and preparing materials suited to community realities. Over time, I came to understand the work was about building something useful, flexible, and locally grounded enough to continue after the project ended.
My site sponsor, Victoria Yeboah, chief nurse midwife of Wenchi Methodist Hospital's labor and delivery ward, identified the region's most pressing priorities. One was nipple corrector aids for women with inverted nipples; the hospital had been using hand-cut syringes that were painful for mothers, making formula feeding more appealing. I shipped a bulk order in three styles directly to Victoria so staff could choose what worked best for each patient.
Victoria also emphasized addressing persistent breastfeeding myths. I developed posters, flyers, booklets, and quick-reference resources, drawing on UNICEF's Infant and Young Child Feeding Image Bank for culturally appropriate visuals.
Because hospital staff would also benefit from education, Tecla Coleman, MPH'21, MS, RD, Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE) Associate Program Director, suggested a training led by an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Victoria secured Constance Odonkor, midwife and well-known IBCLC who promotes breastfeeding on Ghanaian television and radio. Nurses, nurse midwives, and physicians attended, and her credibility was immediately evident.
Participants were engaged, asked thoughtful questions, and received certificates for continuing professional development credit. Their feedback shaped plans for outreach events in which trained staff will bring breastfeeding education directly to mothers in hard-to-reach villages, confronting myths such as the belief that colostrum is toxic or that formula is healthier than breastmilk.
Though I had worked in this region and in maternal health before, this experience felt entirely new. Nothing in my MPH program came close to delivering these real-world global health skills and international connections.
Above all, I learned that global health work is as much about relationships as evidence. Clear communication means making sure the other person feels heard, involved, and trusted—a lesson reinforced by CGHE Director Dr. Lisa V. Adams, who reminded me that in global health, "there is what is said, what is meant, what is implied but not said."