World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is celebrated every year from August 1-7 across the world, to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies and mothers. This year, for WBW 2021, World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) has selected the theme: Protect Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility. The theme is aligned with thematic area 2 of the WBW-SDG 2030 campaign which highlights the links among breastfeeding, survival, and health, of women, children and nations.
Breast milk provides the ideal nutrition for infants. It has a perfect mix of vitamins, protein, fats and everything that a baby needs to grow. It is much easier to digest than any infant formula. Breast milk contains antibodies that help baby to fight off viruses and bacteria. Breastfeeding lowers baby’s risk of having asthma or allergies. Moreover, babies who are breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months, without any formula, have fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses, and bouts of diarrhea. They also have fewer hospitalizations and trips to the doctor. Breastfeeding widely contributes to maternal health, immediately after the delivery, because it helps in reducing the risk of post-partum haemorrhage. In the short term, breastfeeding delays the return to fertility and in the long term, it reduces the risk of type 2 of diabetes and breast, uterus and ovarian cancer.
Most effective strategy to reduce infant mortality in Pakistan would be to encourage breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding practices.
Despite the high cultural acceptance for breastfeeding in Pakistan, the country has the highest bottle-feeding rates and lowest exclusive breastfeeding rates in South Asia. The percentage of exclusively breastfed children in Pakistan has remained static, with just a microscopic increase in the last couple of years. According to the Demographic Health Survey, this percentage has risen only from 37.1 percent in 2006-07 to 37.7 percent in 2012-13. Many mothers do not feed colostrums to their babies, which is the first secretion from mammary glands and contain vital antibodies that protect new-borns against diseases. According to UNICEF and WHO, out of 10, less than two mothers are engaged in early breast-feeding in Pakistan, and this is one of the lowest rates of breast-feeding in the world. Depriving babies of breastfeeding at a critical stage of their development has serious consequences, including limited height, incomplete brain development, and elevated disease risks. Widespread stunted growth also has much wider implications, like increased healthcare burden and reducing the productivity of future generations. Pakistan’s current rate of child’s stunted growth is among the highest in the world. A leading cause of this malnutrition is limited breastfeeding contradictory to the wrong impression that most Pakistani mothers breastfeed their children. According to recent estimates, however, less than 40 per cent of babies are being breastfed exclusively during their first six months. The nutritional status of the infants mainly depends on feeding practices in the community. It can be seen that child rearing practices vary among people and regions of districts and provinces in Pakistan. Childhood malnutrition remains a common health problem and one of the major underlying causes of morbidity and mortality in children. Poverty, ignorance and lack of knowledge about balanced diet are a leading cause of primary malnutrition.
In order to regulate the culture of breastfeeding, federal and provincial governments can enforce legislation on breast milk substitutes, provide supportive environment for maternity protection for women in employment ensuring breastfeeding is initiated in maternity facilities, and curbing the unnecessary use of infant formula. Government can also take initiatives regarding capacity building of healthcare providers and community workers, to offer counselling on Infant Young Child Feeding and mother-to-mother support groups in the communities, accompanied by communication strategies to promote breastfeeding, using multiple channels and messages tailored to the local context. Most effective strategy to reduce infant mortality in Pakistan would be to encourage breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding practices. This can be achieved by health education and public awareness programmes by the government and with the help of NGOs. The collaboration of public private partnership would lead to the achievement of the Sustainable Developing Goals about child health. Maternal and Child Health Centers can be established, especially in underprivileged areas of Pakistan, where both curative and preventive health services can be provided for mothers and children. These centres will be a great source of providing continuous awareness on the benefits of breastfeeding.
In Pakistan, UNICEF promotes ‘Mother and Child Health Week’, which is a multi-pronged outreach campaign. The programme aims to prevent mothers and children from catching various diseases by informing them about the basic hygiene principles and teach them to establish a healthy environment at home. UNICEF also distributes the Mother and Child Health booklet, popularly known as the ‘Green Book’. In easy to comprehend language and illustrations, the book is a reference and record keeping booklet, which a mother can use not only for seeking guidance on health issues, but also for maintaining record of herself and her child’s health status, starting from pregnancy till the child turns five.
The writer is a poet and a philanthropist.