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Breast milk is the most natural food for babies and breastfeeding until one hour after birth increases their chances of survival. However, three out of five children are not breastfed within the first hour of life. This is according to data from low- and middle-income countries, where access to health care is also more difficult, compromising babies' health from the start.
It is estimated that in 2017, 78 million babies did not start breastfeeding in the first hour of life according to a joint report from the World Health Organization. Health (WHO) and UNICEF (United Nations Fund for Children). Breastfeeding during the first hour of life and skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby are two recommendations to promote breastfeeding proposed by these organizations. The goal is, on the one hand, to promote and facilitate the initiation and maintenance of breastfeeding, on the other hand, to promote the baby's health.
Previous work has shown that babies who start breastfeeding between the second and the twenty- are at a 33% higher risk of dying than those who are breastfed within the first hour, according to the report. For babies who start breastfeeding a day or more after birth, the risk of double death The benefits of early breastfeeding were maintained even when the child did not have a baby. was not exclusively breastfed (when he also drank infant formula, for example).
Percentage of babies breastfed during the first hour of life in 2017. Data from developed countries – UNICEF global databases (2018)
The area where breastfeeding is the earlier is eastern and southern Africa (65%). The lowest rates are in the Middle East and North Africa (35%) and South East Asia and Pacific (32%). It should be remembered that low-income countries, such as the Philippines, are those where adapted dairy firms make more aggressive promotional efforts to convince mothers to give infants formula instead of breast milk.
the report has no data for developed countries, such as European countries, North America or Australia. "The early initiation of breastfeeding benefits newborns no matter where they live," the report adds. "However, many high-income countries are not monitoring this important indicator of infant nutrition." In 19459004 Portugal, according to 2013 data from the General Directorate of Health, 84.1% of infants began breastfeeding during the first hour of life and 98% were breastfed during hospitalization.
Although there is no data on initiation of breastfeeding in the first hour in developed countries, WHO and UNICEF have data on breastfed infants at any point in their lives . In high-income countries, this rate reaches 21%, while it is only 4% in middle-income or low-income countries. "This gap means that 2.6 million children in high-income countries lose the benefits of breastfeeding."
"Mothers do not get enough support to breastfeed their babies," says UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore. the first food given to infants is infant formula or water with sugar or honey.The first breast milk – colostrum – rich in nutrients and antibodies and essential for the baby's health, is often wasted .
Start breastfeeding in the first hour of life is not easy: no, "write the authors of the study
Have access to better Health care and the presence of a qualified professional during delivery does not only mean promoting breastfeeding, as reported in the report. Therefore, the WHO and the UNICEF recommend that babies not be removed to mothers after birth (common practice), skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby is allowed and health workers follow the breastfeeding to help mothers identify and resolve any problems and limitations they may have face. This means that health professionals need to check that the mother is in a good position to breastfeed, that she is taking the baby properly and in what positions she can do it, and especially if the baby is recovering properly nipple to extract the milk he needs without hurting the mother.
"Babies are born ready to breastfeed.The breastfeeding reflex of the newborn allows suckling, swallowing and feeding from birth," write The exception is in cases where pregnancy is not completed naturally, such as in preterm infants who do not yet have the strength to breastfeed, and in the cesarean deliveries that anticipate deliveries – babies are not ready to breastfeed and the maternal body the signal to start producing milk, but even in the case of caesarean section, which did not occur. other complications, skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding in the first hour are recommended. "Direct skin-to-skin contact helps regulate the baby's body temperature and allows your body to get better. 39 to be colonized by beneficial bacteria from the skin of the m era. These "good" bacteria provide protection against infectious diseases and help babies create their own immune system.
The WHO further recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed up to the age of six months without the need to provide any other fluid, not even one. # 39; water. This implies that the mother breastfeeds her unborn child whenever the baby wants it and for the time that the baby determines. Not only does milk kill hunger, but it also kills thirst. Giving water to the baby has two risks: first, it can reduce the hunger of small babies, then in countries where it is difficult to find drinking water, it presents an increased risk for the health of babies.
