Feeding a newborn with breast milk within 6-8 hours of birth is essential as it helps reduce the infant mortality rate by over 10% annually. This was revealed by a study conducted by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) in 2011. As the world commemorates breast feeding week from August 1-7 every year, awareness about breast feeding among the medical fraternity and general public is still low. People fail to understand that breast feeding is one of the major factors which helps reduce infant and neo-natal mortality.
Says Dr R. Premlatha, Professor of Paediatrics at Vani Vilas Hospital, “Till the baby is six months, it should be fed exclusively on mother's breast milk. This helps in reducing infant and neo-natal mortality by nearly 50%.” In a country like India which has a high infant mortality rate, generating awareness about the importance of breast feeding is essential. “Breast milk contains all the vital nutrients, provided antibodies and is important for the baby to develop immunity, so that it can infections, thereby reducing the infant mortality rate," she added.
With packaged and bottle milk available in the market these days, breast milk is the only ingredient which is safe and hygienic for infants. Dr Archana Nazre, nutritionist and dietician, BGS Global Hospital said, "Generally, in the villages people believe that the first yellow milk secreted by the lactating mother has to be discarded, but this is wrong. Yellow milk or colostrum is the first thing that should be fed to the baby within 6-8 hours of birth, as it helps in boosting immunity levels.”
“Till six months the infant should be fed exclusively on breast milk, after which, till 2 years of age, the baby should be fed with breast milk along with other supplementary food items,” opined Dr Disha Sridhar, consultant gynecologist and obstetrician, Motherhood Hospital.