Statistics from UNICEF show that some 77 million newborns are not put to the breast within an hour of birth, exposing them to disease and death.

Every year, World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated all over the world from August 1-7 to promote breastfeeding and improve infant nutrition as agreed by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF in August 1990. The theme for the 2016 Breastfeeding Week is “Breastfeeding: A Key to Sustainable Development.” However, many people do not realise the importance of early breastfeeding in the lives of their babies.

Statistics from UNICEF show that 77 million newborns or 1 in 2 babies are not put to the breast within an hour of birth, depriving them of the essential nutrients, antibodies and skin-to-skin contact with their mothers that protect them from disease and death. According to the report, the longer breastfeeding is delayed, the higher the risk of death in the first month of life. Delaying breastfeeding by 2- 23 hours after birth increases the risk of dying in the first 28 days of life by 40 per cent. Delaying it by 24 hours or more increases that risk to 80 per cent, the report notes.

Cécile Mbolo, Nurse and Specialist in Reproductive Health at the Efoulan Hospital in Yaounde said breastfeeding is of great importance because it is adapted to the baby and does not irritate the digestive track of the newborn. Also, breast milk is not expensive and is available in favourable temperature. She said the first milk, called colostrum, protects the newborn against eventual infections. Also, it strengthens the mother-child link. Cécile Mbolo said some nursing mothers, as a result of ignorance and traditional beliefs, throw away the first milk because it is yellowish.