IFRC celebrates World Breastfeeding Week Brest Feeding

							IFRC celebrates
World Breastfeeding Week
                                                                  1–7 August 2010
                   Six key messages for breastfeeding children under six months old:
  6 key messages




                      B
                   1.	 reastfeeding	should	begin	within	an	hour	after	birth.
                      B
                   2.	 reast	milk	should	be	given	exclusively	for	the	first	six	months	of	life.
                      B
                   3.	 reastfeeding	should	continue	even	if	the	mother	or	child	is	sick.
                      A
                   4.	 	child	should	be	breastfed	as	often	as	they	want,	be	it	day	or	night.
                   5.	A	child	should	finish	feeding	from	one	breast	before	offering	the	other	breast.
                   6.	Do	not	give	a	child	breast	substitutes	such	as	bottles,	pacifiers,	teats	or	
                      dummies.

                                                                                                    IFRC


Why breastfeed?
Breastfeeding is proven to be the safest and most
nutritious food for infants and young children, giving
them the best chance for a healthy life. It also provides
mothers with many benefits:

Child
•	Protects	children	from	infection	and	other	health	
  problems	 and	 helps	 them	 recover	 faster	 from	
  illnesses.
•	Provides	all	of	the	nutrition	(including	water)	
  that	a	child	needs	for	growth	and	good	health	
  for	the	first	six	months	of	life.
•	Easy	for	children	to	digest.                                What is exclusive breastfeeding?
•	Breast	milk	is	always	the	right	temperature.                Exclusive breastfeeding is providing
•	Breastfed	children	have	better	learning	outcomes.
                                                              a child with only breast milk for the
Mother
•	Provides	the	best	opportunity	for	mother	and	
                                                              first six months of life. This means no
  child	to	bond	physically	and	emotionally.                   water, sugar, teas, coffee, porridge,
•	Reduces	financial,	time,	and	safety	constraints	            etc.
  –	 as	 breast	 milk	 is	 free	 and	 requires	 no	
  preparation.                                                The only food and drink a child
•	Acts	 as	 a	 natural	 method	 of	 birth	 control	 (if	      needs for the first six months is
  child	is	exclusively	breastfed	for	the	first	six	
  months	of	life).                                            breast milk. Breast milk provides all
•	Reduces	risk	of	breast	and	ovarian	cancers.                 the nutrition that they need and it
•	Protects	against	weak	bones	later	in	life.
•	Faster	return	to	pre-pregnancy	weight.
                                                              helps protect them from disease.
             Breastfeeding is
       natural and beneficial
                                                        Key facts and figures
                                                        •	In	poor	countries,	maternal	and	child	under-
       for children up to two                             nutrition	 is	 the	 cause	 of	 3.5	 million	 child	
       years old and beyond.                              deaths,	many	of	which	can	be	prevented.
                                                        •	Poor	breastfeeding	practices	can	increase	the	
       Though children need                               risk	 of	 illness	 and	 contributes	 to	 1.4	 million	
         additional foods and                             child	deaths.
                                                        •	Improved	 breastfeeding	 alone	 can	 save	 the	
      drinks after six months                             lives	of	more	than	3,500	children	every	day	–
         old, mothers should                              more	than	any	other	preventive	intervention.
      continue breastfeeding                            •	Up	 to	 55	 per	 cent	 of	 infant	 deaths	 from	
                                                          diarrheal	 disease	 and	 respiratory	 infections	
      as breastmilk is a good                             may	be	due	to	poor	feeding	practices.
          source of nutrients                           •	Infants	under	two	months	of	age	who	are	not	
                                                          breastfed	 are	 25	 times	 more	 likely	 to	 die	 of	
         and protection from                              diarrhoea	 than	 infants	 who	 are	 exclusively	
                      disease.                            breastfed.

                            MDG1   Provides a safe and reliable food source for children.
        Development Goals
         Contribution to




                            MDG3   Gives all children the best start to life.
           Millennium




                            MDG4   Reduces under five mortality rates.
                            MDG5   Acts as natural birth control and reduces risk of ovarian and breast cancer.




                                                                                                                                              201100 07/2010 E 0
                            MDG6   Protects children from diseases.
                            MDG7   Provides an environmentally sustainable food source.
                                                                                                                                 Jakob Dall/IFRC


What can National Societies do?
• Integrate breastfeeding promotion,
  education and training into new or
  existing programmes.
• Advocate with policy makers at the local,
  regional and national level on the benefits
  and importance of breastfeeding.
• (Re)-train volunteers and community
  health workers on how to support new
  mothers and encourage breastfeeding.
• Encourage Red Cross Red Crescent
  female staff to be role models by
  practicing breastfeeding (where
  appropriate).


 More information online                                        For more information, please contact:
 https://fednet.ifrc.org/sw192764.asp
 http://iycn.org/
                                                                International Federation of Red Cross
 www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_24824.html                      and Red Crescent Societies
 www.unicef.org/programme/breastfeeding/                        Community preparedness and risk reduction department
 www.waba.org.my/                                               P.O. Box 372
 www.waba.org.my/pdf/WHOHIVguidelines2010.pdf                   CH-1211 Geneva 19 - Switzerland
 www.who.int/topics/breastfeeding/en/
                                                                Tel: +41 22 730 4222 E-mail: secretariat@ifrc.org Web site: www.ifrc.org