‘Breastmilk is the best gift a mother can give her child’ – this statement is used by healthcare practitioners with good reason. It is the single best source of nutrition, medicine and care for the neonate and growing infant because it is a carefully crafted mixture of the best and most important nutrients. Mothers in villages and cities alike, still undertake malpractices like discarding the colostrum (creamy yellow milk secreted in first 3 days), early termination of breastfeeding, abrupt cessation and introduction of supplementary feeds etc which ultimately give rise to a host of problems in the growing infant. In accordance with the WHO World Breastfeeding week norms, Caduceus decided to provide some basic need to know facts about breastfeeding followed by a short-quiz and myth buster to testthe knowledge gained.
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 170 countries to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. It commemorates the Innocenti Declaration made by WHO and UNICEF policy-makers in August 1990 to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding is the best way to provide newborns with the nutrients they need. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding until a baby is sixmonths old, and continued breastfeeding with the addition of nutritious complementary foods for up to two years or beyond.