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Breastfeeding is a must for healthy growth

RIZANUZZAMAN LASKAR
even are better in relieving pain, various researches and studies suggest.
The benefits are not limited for just the newborns. Mothers who breastfeed their babies tend to cut risks of diabetes, says a 2010 Pennsylvania study.
On the other side of the coin, babies who aren't breastfed have a higher risk of infection, and are more likely to spend time in hospital during their first year, other researches show.
And yet, in Bangladesh, only around half of the mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth, according to the Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS)-2007.
If all newborns in the country were to be breastfed within one hour of birth, about 37,000 neonatal deaths could be averted annually, the study concluded.
Last year's BDHS statistics, however, give a more favourable picture. It says that almost all Bangladeshi babies are breastfed for the first year of life. And children are breastfed for an extended time with 90 percent children aging 20-23 months are still receiving breast
However, only about one third of babies in Bangladesh receive the recommended exclusive breastfeeding (i.e. no other drinks or food) for the first six months of life with the
statistics suggesting that comple- 1 mentary foods are introduced at too an early an age.
Bootle feeding is also not uncommon in the country, the survey further added, with one in five children (6-9 months) being fed with a bottle with a nipple.
The World Health Organisation recommends that infants start breastfeeding within one hour of life, are exclusively breastfed for six months, with timely initiation of adequate, safe and properly fed complementary foods while continuing breastfeeding for up to two years of age or beyond.
It contains all the nutrients needed by children in the first six months of life. Supplementing breast milk before the child is six months of age is also discouraged because it increases the likelihood of contamination, and hence risk of diarrhoea.
So, despite all the advice that 'breast is best' for their baby, why do so few continue breastfeeding?
Because mothers often receive inadequate support; cracked nipples, infections such as mastitis, problems in getting a baby to latch on properly or the demands of establishing breastfeeding while looking after older children can all hinder breastfeeding, experts say.
In a more general level, increasing numbers of working mothers and availability of artificial substitutes are also major reasons, they add.
Experts believe that longer maternal leaves could be a solution for working mothers. The government has already made sure that
mothers working for the government gets six months of maternity leave.
However, things remain different in the private sector where different organisations and companies have different policies on the issue, which have caught the eyes of the Prime Minister herself.
Addressing last year's World Breastfeeding Week in August, the Prime Minister had said: “It is very unfortunate that many private sector employers do not allow six-month maternity leave to the expectant mothers working in their organisations, though all the government offices have already implemented it.”
She had also urged the private sector to set up breastfeeding corners for creating ideal environment for new mothers.
Breastfeeding corners should also be set up at the shopping malls and bus, rail and launch stations, she had added.
Children born in health facilities are also less likely to get breast milk within one hour of birth compared to their counter-
parts born in homes, studies have suggested.
A general tendency of providing pre-lacteal feeds [liquids/ foods given during the first three days of life] is widely practiced with more than half of the newborns, experts suggest.
The Breast-Milk Substitutes (Regulation of Marketing) Ordinance 1984 prohibits anyone from making, exhibiting, distributing, circulating, displaying or publishing any advertisement on the use of breast-milk substitutes or implying to create the belief or impression that breastmilk substitute feeding is equivalent or superior to breast-milk feeding.
However, due to weak coordination, limited coverage and ineffective community activities, low consumer awareness about the dangers of formula milk, absence of specific guidelines for IYCF, inadequate recognition of complementary feeding, questionable quality of services in baby-friendly facilities, lack of a standardised monitoring system is pulling the pace of breast feeding development.
Experts suggest comprehensive and effective activities at social level and special emphasis at family level. Individual concern and family support are crucially needed for having a healthy child followed by policy, social, organisational and community based activities.
While the trends are promising, continuing it in the future poses a challenge, experts added.
Our children deserve the best and we need to ensure that they get the best start in life by supporting breast-feeding.