educatingchildren77: Check out a photo essay for World Breastfeeding Week 2015 which aims to empower women to combine work with breastfeeding and raising their children.
World Breastfeeding Week, celebrated this year from 1-7 August, is an annual event highlighting the critical importance of breastfeeding for children across the globe. Breastfeeding gives children the healthiest start in life and is one of the simplest, smartest and most cost-effective ways we have of ensuring that all children survive and thrive.
The theme of this year’s World Breastfeeding Week is ‘Women and work – Let’s make it work’ which emphasizes the need for better support systems and policies to enable working mothers to breastfeed.
There are approximately 830 million women workers in the world. Many of them return to work soon after delivering babies, and they need supportive national polices and legislation – such as paid maternity leave and breastfeeding breaks – to enable them to continue breastfeeding. There are also millions more women working in the informal, seasonal or part-time economy who face even greater barriers to breastfeeding. They need strong family and community support to manage the demands of work and breastfeeding their babies.
Providing this support is the right thing to do for both babies and mothers: breastfeeding prevents infant death, childhood illness and non-communicable diseases, while supporting brain development and protecting maternal health. It also makes good economic sense. Women who have adequate maternity benefits value their employers, leading to increased productivity, job satisfaction and loyalty.
UNICEF is working to support national governments in making the world a friendlier place for all mothers who wish to breastfeed.
Impact on child survival and global situation
In the last two decades, child mortality has decreased considerably, but close to 7 million children under five years of age still die each year, mainly from preventable causes. Of those, newborn deaths now represent nearly half of all child deaths under five years. Immediate breastfeeding – putting the baby to the mother’s breast within an hour after birth – would significantly reduce neonatal mortality.
Early and exclusive breastfeeding helps children survive, but it also supports healthy brain development, improves cognitive performance and is associated with better educational achievement at age 5. Breastfeeding is the foundation of good nutrition and protects children against disease. In this way, breastfeeding allows all children to thrive and develop to their full potential. Yet, less than half of the world’s newborns benefit from early breastfeeding and even fewer are exclusively breastfed for the first six months.
Optimal breastfeeding of infants under two years of age has the greatest potential impact on child survival of all preventive interventions, with the potential to prevent over 800,000 deaths (13 per cent of all deaths) in children under five in the developing world (Lancet 2013). ”
Breastfed children have at least six times greater chance of survival in the early months than non-breastfed children. An exclusively breastfed child is 14 times less likely to die in the first six months than a non-breastfed child, and breastfeeding drastically reduces deaths from acute respiratory infection and diarrhoea, two major child killers (Lancet 2008). The potential impact of optimal breastfeeding practices is especially important in developing country situations with a high burden of disease and low access to clean water and sanitation. But non-breastfed children in industrialized countries are also at greater risk of dying - a recent study of post-neonatal mortality in the United States found a 25% increase in mortality among non-breastfed infants. In the UK Millennium Cohort Survey, six months of exclusive breast feeding was associated with a 53% decrease in hospital admissions for diarrhoea and a 27% decrease in respiratory tract infections.
While breastfeeding rates are no longer declining at the global level, with many countries experiencing significant increases in the last decade, only 39 per cent of children less than six months of age in the developing world are exclusively breastfed and just 58 per cent of 20-23 month olds benefit from the practice of continued breastfeeding. A growing number of countries are demonstrating that significant and rapid progress is possible, with 25 countries showing increases of 20 percentage points or more.
Breastfeeding is for every creature in this animated short from China.
Recommendations for optimal breastfeeding
The World Health Organization and UNICEF recommendations on breastfeeding are as follows: initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour after the birth; exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months; and continued breastfeeding for two years or more, together with safe, nutritionally adequate, age appropriate, responsive complementary feeding starting in the sixth month.
Benefits of breastfeeding
Breastfeeding has an extraordinary range of benefits. It has profound impact on a child’s survival, health, nutrition and development. Breast milk provides all of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals an infant needs for growth for the first six months, and no other liquids or food are needed. In addition, breast milk carries antibodies from the mother that help combat disease. The act of breastfeeding itself stimulates proper growth of the mouth and jaw, and secretion of hormones for digestion and satiety. Breastfeeding creates a special bond between mother and baby and the interaction between the mother and child during breastfeeding has positive repercussions for life, in terms of stimulation, behaviour, speech, sense of wellbeing and security and how the child relates to other people. Breastfeeding also lowers the risk of chronic conditions later in life, such as obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, childhood asthma and childhood leukaemias. Studies have shown that breastfed infants do better on intelligence and behaviour tests into adulthood than formula-fed babies.
Virtually every mother can breastfeed, if given appropriate support, advice and encouragement, as well as practical assistance to resolve any problems. Studies have shown that early skin to skin contact between mothers and babies, frequent and unrestricted breast feeding to ensure continued production of milk and help with positioning and attaching the baby increase the chances of breast feeding being successful.
Breastfeeding also contributes to maternal health immediately after the delivery because it helps reduce the risk of post-partum haemorrhage. In the short term, breastfeeding delays the return to fertility and in the long term, it reduces type 2 diabetes and breast, uterine and ovarian cancer. Studies have also found an association between early cessation of breastfeeding and post natal depression in mothers.
Breastfed, best fed: Less than half of the world’s newborns benefit from the cost-effective intervention for saving their lives: breastfeeding. View these photos.
Risks of mixed feeding
Mixed feeding, or giving other liquids and/or foods together with breast milk to infants under 6 months of age, is widespread in many countries. This practice poses risks to an infant’s health because it can increase the chance of their getting diarrhea and other infectious diseases. Mixed feeding, especially giving water or other liquids, can also causes the supply of breast milk to decrease as the baby sucks less at the breast. Babies do not need liquids other than breastmilk, not even water, in the first 6 months as breastmilk contains all the water a baby needs, even in very hot climates.
Mixed feeding increases the risk of mother to child transmission of HIV. Exclusive breastfeeding for up to six months was associated with a three to four fold decreased risk of transmission of HIV compared to mixed feeding breastfeeding in several African studies.
The theme of this year’s World Breastfeeding Week is ‘Women and work – Let’s make it work’ which emphasizes the need for better support systems and policies to enable working mothers to breastfeed.
There are approximately 830 million women workers in the world. Many of them return to work soon after delivering babies, and they need supportive national polices and legislation – such as paid maternity leave and breastfeeding breaks – to enable them to continue breastfeeding. There are also millions more women working in the informal, seasonal or part-time economy who face even greater barriers to breastfeeding. They need strong family and community support to manage the demands of work and breastfeeding their babies.
Providing this support is the right thing to do for both babies and mothers: breastfeeding prevents infant death, childhood illness and non-communicable diseases, while supporting brain development and protecting maternal health. It also makes good economic sense. Women who have adequate maternity benefits value their employers, leading to increased productivity, job satisfaction and loyalty.
UNICEF is working to support national governments in making the world a friendlier place for all mothers who wish to breastfeed.
Impact on child survival and global situation
In the last two decades, child mortality has decreased considerably, but close to 7 million children under five years of age still die each year, mainly from preventable causes. Of those, newborn deaths now represent nearly half of all child deaths under five years. Immediate breastfeeding – putting the baby to the mother’s breast within an hour after birth – would significantly reduce neonatal mortality.
Early and exclusive breastfeeding helps children survive, but it also supports healthy brain development, improves cognitive performance and is associated with better educational achievement at age 5. Breastfeeding is the foundation of good nutrition and protects children against disease. In this way, breastfeeding allows all children to thrive and develop to their full potential. Yet, less than half of the world’s newborns benefit from early breastfeeding and even fewer are exclusively breastfed for the first six months.
Optimal breastfeeding of infants under two years of age has the greatest potential impact on child survival of all preventive interventions, with the potential to prevent over 800,000 deaths (13 per cent of all deaths) in children under five in the developing world (Lancet 2013). ”
Breastfed children have at least six times greater chance of survival in the early months than non-breastfed children. An exclusively breastfed child is 14 times less likely to die in the first six months than a non-breastfed child, and breastfeeding drastically reduces deaths from acute respiratory infection and diarrhoea, two major child killers (Lancet 2008). The potential impact of optimal breastfeeding practices is especially important in developing country situations with a high burden of disease and low access to clean water and sanitation. But non-breastfed children in industrialized countries are also at greater risk of dying - a recent study of post-neonatal mortality in the United States found a 25% increase in mortality among non-breastfed infants. In the UK Millennium Cohort Survey, six months of exclusive breast feeding was associated with a 53% decrease in hospital admissions for diarrhoea and a 27% decrease in respiratory tract infections.
While breastfeeding rates are no longer declining at the global level, with many countries experiencing significant increases in the last decade, only 39 per cent of children less than six months of age in the developing world are exclusively breastfed and just 58 per cent of 20-23 month olds benefit from the practice of continued breastfeeding. A growing number of countries are demonstrating that significant and rapid progress is possible, with 25 countries showing increases of 20 percentage points or more.
Breastfeeding is for every creature in this animated short from China.
Recommendations for optimal breastfeeding
The World Health Organization and UNICEF recommendations on breastfeeding are as follows: initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour after the birth; exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months; and continued breastfeeding for two years or more, together with safe, nutritionally adequate, age appropriate, responsive complementary feeding starting in the sixth month.
Benefits of breastfeeding
Breastfeeding has an extraordinary range of benefits. It has profound impact on a child’s survival, health, nutrition and development. Breast milk provides all of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals an infant needs for growth for the first six months, and no other liquids or food are needed. In addition, breast milk carries antibodies from the mother that help combat disease. The act of breastfeeding itself stimulates proper growth of the mouth and jaw, and secretion of hormones for digestion and satiety. Breastfeeding creates a special bond between mother and baby and the interaction between the mother and child during breastfeeding has positive repercussions for life, in terms of stimulation, behaviour, speech, sense of wellbeing and security and how the child relates to other people. Breastfeeding also lowers the risk of chronic conditions later in life, such as obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, childhood asthma and childhood leukaemias. Studies have shown that breastfed infants do better on intelligence and behaviour tests into adulthood than formula-fed babies.
Virtually every mother can breastfeed, if given appropriate support, advice and encouragement, as well as practical assistance to resolve any problems. Studies have shown that early skin to skin contact between mothers and babies, frequent and unrestricted breast feeding to ensure continued production of milk and help with positioning and attaching the baby increase the chances of breast feeding being successful.
Breastfeeding also contributes to maternal health immediately after the delivery because it helps reduce the risk of post-partum haemorrhage. In the short term, breastfeeding delays the return to fertility and in the long term, it reduces type 2 diabetes and breast, uterine and ovarian cancer. Studies have also found an association between early cessation of breastfeeding and post natal depression in mothers.
Breastfed, best fed: Less than half of the world’s newborns benefit from the cost-effective intervention for saving their lives: breastfeeding. View these photos.
Risks of mixed feeding
Mixed feeding, or giving other liquids and/or foods together with breast milk to infants under 6 months of age, is widespread in many countries. This practice poses risks to an infant’s health because it can increase the chance of their getting diarrhea and other infectious diseases. Mixed feeding, especially giving water or other liquids, can also causes the supply of breast milk to decrease as the baby sucks less at the breast. Babies do not need liquids other than breastmilk, not even water, in the first 6 months as breastmilk contains all the water a baby needs, even in very hot climates.
Mixed feeding increases the risk of mother to child transmission of HIV. Exclusive breastfeeding for up to six months was associated with a three to four fold decreased risk of transmission of HIV compared to mixed feeding breastfeeding in several African studies.
