UN: Breastfeeding newborns in
the first hour of life is crucial
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| A Nepali mother breastfeeding her baby.- AFP |
The United Nations children’s fund, UNICEF, and the World
Health Organization, WHO, released a report July 31, the eve of the August 1 to
7 World Breastfeeding Week.
By Robin Gomes
Around the world, an estimated 78 million babies,
or 3 out of 5, are not breastfed within the first hour of
life, which places them at higher risk of death and disease. Most of them
are in low- and middle-income countries says a new United Nations report
launched on Tuesday.
Crucial first hour of life
The report entitled “Capture the Moment”, by the UN children’s fund, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization, WHO, was released ahead of the World Breastfeeding Week, which celebrated annually from 1 to 7 August to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world by providing infants with the nutrients they need.
The focus of the World Breastfeeding Week this year is to
promote the importance of helping mothers breastfeed their babies within
that crucial first hour of life.
Maaike Arts, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist for infants and
young children, explained why.
Speaking ahead of the release of the report, she said that
it helps to start breastfeeding correctly, it helps to prevent babies
from dying in the first month of life and it helps protect babies against
certain diseases.
The report pointed out that skin-to-skin contact along with
suckling at the breast stimulate the mother’s production of breastmilk,
including colostrum, also called the baby’s ‘first vaccine’, which is extremely
rich in nutrients and antibodies.
Supporting mothers
UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore lamented
that “mothers simply don’t receive enough support to breastfeed within those
crucial minutes after birth, even from medical personnel at health facilities.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus urged scaling up efforts to support mothers to give their
children the start they deserve.
Arts of UNICEF also urged everyone to do more to
support mothers and babies in the practice in the first week of life every day,
not just during the week.
Besides saving lives, breastfeeding is also best for the
babies’ development and growth. She said it is the best gift that mothers
can give their newborns and babies.
Lowest rate in East Asia, Pacific
The report is based on data from 76 countries, excluding North America, Australia, New Zealand and western Europe.
It says 65 per cent of countries in Eastern and Southern
Africa have the highest rate of breastfeeding within the first hour, while East
Asia and the Pacific have the lowest rate with only 32 percent benefitting from
the early initiation.
While nearly nine-in-ten babies born in Burundi, Sri Lanka
and Vanuatu are breastfed within that first hour, only two-in-10 born in
Azerbaijan, Chad and Montenegro were nursed.
The report urges governments and other decision-makers to
adopt strong legal measures to restrict the marketing of infant formula and
other breastmilk substitutes to help address the situation.
Pope Francis
Pope Francis has been among those who have encouraged the practice of breastfeeding. When he celebrates Mass in the Vatican’s famed Sistine Chapel to baptize babies on the feast of the Baptism of Jesus in January every year, he tells new mothers they should feel free to breastfeed their babies without any inhibition.
The Pope's Baptism of 34 babies on January 7 this year had a
twist of humor. He said, "Babies have their own dialect."
"If one starts to cry, the others will follow, like in an
orchestra." “If they start a concert (by crying), or if they are
uncomfortable or too warm or don’t feel at ease or are hungry ... breastfeed
them, don’t be afraid, feed them, because this too is the language of
love,” he said in an improvised homily.
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