WORLD BREAST-FEEDING WEEK PROMOTES INFANT HEALTH
Baku, August 4 (AZERTAC). To celebrate World Breastfeeding Week, regional organizations are stressing how exclusive breast-feeding in the first six months of life can reduce infant mortality.
This year`s World Breast-feeding Week`s activities are focusing on educating women in West and Central Africa about breast-feeding practices that can reduce infant mortality.
A nutrition specialist at UNICEF`s West and Central Africa Office, Robert Johnston, said women in the region have a lot of knowledge to draw from, but essential improvements can be made.
"We have got a very strange situation in West and Central Africa that almost all women are experts in breast-feeding, because they do breast feed," he said. "Ninety-nine percent of women do breast feed. They do not breast feed exclusively in the first six months, and they often do not begin breast-feeding within the first hour after birth."
According to UNICEF, only one third of women initiate breast-feeding within the recommended first hour after birth. Part of World Breast-feeding Week`s initiatives is to help mothers and hospital workers understand the importance of immediate contact with the mother after birth.
