According to World Health Organisation’s calculations, every year, the untimely death of 150,000 children can be prevented if they are breast-fed during the first six months after birth. In the last five years, our country has seen a rise from 47% to 64% in the breastfeeding of infants up to six months.
Immediately after birth, the newborn should be breastfed, at the earliest, within half an hour. For the first six full months (180 days), the infant should be breast-fed exclusively, and not be given even a single drop of water.
After that, the child should be breast-fed along with solid food side by side. The first milk produced by the mother after giving birth is called colostrum. Colostrum is dense, sticky, and pale yellow in colour. It is extremely beneficial for the infant and works as the child’s first ever vaccine.
It has multiple benefits:
It is rich in protein It cleanses the child’s stomach and helps in regular bowel movements It reduces the possibility of the infant developing neo-natal jaundice After child-birth, the amount of milk produced in the first two to three days is sufficient for the newborn. Feeding the infant water, honey, or sugared water is extremely harmful. It increases the possibility of the infant getting diarrhoea. Moreover, its eagerness to feed on breast milk decreases Breast milk contains all the necessary nutritional elements for the baby. Up till the age of six months, breast milk alone is sufficient. Besides nutritional elements, breast milk is comprised of 90% water, which is why the infant does not need any additional water during the first six months. Breast milk is clean and free of germs. It has no chance of being affected by them, be they airborne or waterborne Breast milk enables the infant to ward off diseases such as diarrhoea, ear infection, pneumonia, lung diseases, asthma, allergy, itching, etc. Even if the child catches any disease, the child recovers faster due to greater resistance to diseases Breast milk facilitates the child’s physical and mental growth It is easily digestible It contains the optimum amount of Vitamin A, which eliminates the child’s chances of catching night-blindness. Moreover, breast-feeding is not only beneficial for the child, it is necessary for the mother as well It creates an emotional attachment between the mother and child Breast-feeding the child helps rescue the mother’s body from post-partum complications Breast-feeding helps the mother’s uterus to recover faster from the disturbances during pregnancy. In addition, to an extent, it controls the post-partum bleeding Breast-feeding reduces the chances of developing breast and ovarian cancer, and helps the mother reduce her weight after childbirthThe government of Bangladesh has taken various initiatives to ensure proper nutrition of mother and child. In addition to government initiatives, private organisations such as different hospitals have come forward to establish lactation corners, and are playing a significant role by conducting various scientific workshops to raise awareness about the benefits of breast milk.
Greater awareness is needed to ensure the achievement of millennium development goals for the very large population of this country. In this age, where half of the working population consists of women, a more mother-friendly workplace is extremely important.
Today’s children are tomorrow’s future. Let us work together to build an excellent future with these children, and build a beautiful Bangladesh.