In a new report on the early start of breast feedingthe World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) say that putting newborns to the breast within the first hour of life is essential for their survival and establishment. of the’long-term breastfeeding.
“Breastfeeding gives children the best possible start in life”says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO. “Skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding stimulate the mother’s production of breast milk, including colostrum, also called the baby’s ‘first vaccine’, which is extremely rich in nutrients and antibodies” points out the report. Breastfeeding is also linked to a lower risk of obesity future in children.
800,000 infants could be saved every year
“Improving breastfeeding practices could save the lives of more than 800,000 children under 5 each year, the vast majority of whom are under six months old” insist the WHO and Unicef, which estimate that 78 million newborns, or 3 out of 5, are not put to the breast within the hour following their birth, which increases the risk of infant death.
3 in 5 babies are not breastfed within the first hour of life.
Those babies are at higher risk of death and disease.
See our new WHO/@UNICEF#breastfeeding report https://t.co/6wGSRMNeMQpic.twitter.com/MV0zlmpUm5
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 31, 2018
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