Countries urged to close breastfeeding gap

Two out of five newborns in Kenya are not breastfed within an hour of birth, as recommended, putting them at risk of falling ill or dying before the age of five.

On a global scale, three out of five – or 78 million babies – are not breastfed within the first hour of life, according to a new joint report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), released at the start of World Breastfeeding Week on August 1.

New-borns breastfed within the first hour of life have fewer chest infections and other health problems in childhood, and are less likely to die before the age of five. Moreover, they are less likely to develop diabetes or become obese in adulthood.

Even a delay of a few hours between birth and initiating breastfeeding could pose life-threatening consequences.

“Each year, millions of newborns miss out on the benefits of early breastfeeding and the reasons – all too often – are things we can change. Mothers simply don’t receive enough support to breastfeed in those crucial moments after birth, even from medical personnel at health facilities,” said Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

Health experts encourage skin-to-skin contact along with suckling (even if no milk is coming out yet) within an hour of birth, to stimulate production of breastmilk.

Moreover, colostrum, the first thick, yellow milk is rich in nutrients and antibodies, serving as a baby’s first vaccine.

Earlier studies cited in the report, show that newborns who began breastfeeding between two and 23 hours after birth had a 33 per cent greater risk of dying compared with those who began breastfeeding within an hour of birth. Among newborns who started breastfeeding a day or more after birth, the risk of death was more than twice as high.

BEST START

Nevertheless, lower-income countries fare better in breastfeeding than wealthier nations. Just four per cent of children in lower-income countries have never breastfed, while 21 per cent of children in wealthier nations have never breastfed, meaning 2.6 million children in high-income countries miss out completely on the benefits of breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding rates within the first hour after birth are highest in Eastern and Southern Africa (65 per cent) and lowest in East Asia and the Pacific (32 per cent).

The new report finds that despite the importance of early initiation of breastfeeding, too many newborns are left waiting too long for reasons such as feeding newborns food or drinks, including formula; the rise in elective C-sections and gaps in the quality of care provided to mothers and newborns.

“Breastfeeding gives children the best possible start in life. We must urgently scale up support to mothers – be it from family members, healthcare workers, employers and governments, so they can give their children the start they deserve,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The WHO and Unicef-led Global Breastfeeding Collective also released the 2018 Global Breastfeeding Scorecard, which tracks the progress of breastfeeding policies and programmes.

They encouraged countries to advance policies and programmes that help all mothers start breastfeeding in the first hour after birth and to continue as long as they want, as long as they breastfeed babies for at least two years.

The UN also urged governments, donors and decision-makers to adopt strong legal measures to restrict the marketing of infant formula and other breastmilk substitutes.