Mammalia

28/05/2017

Baby steps..?

Breastfeeding. Although I have spent my entire working life trying to improve care for women who want to breastfeed, I still hesitate to write openly abo...

28/05/2017

An open secret..

28/05/2017

"Breastfeeding. Although I have spent my entire working life trying to improve care for women who want to breastfeed, I still hesitate to write openly about it. This is because breastfeeding is such a fraught subject in the UK, often viewed as difficult to achieve, and sometimes seen as unnecessary because of a mistaken perception that formula milk is a close second best.

In 2016, a powerful new evidence funded by the Gates Foundation and published in the Lancet delivered a resounding verdict: breastfeeding saves lives and improves health in every country in the world. It helps reduce obesity, cancer, diabetes and leads to higher IQ. But the Lancet report also found that women are constantly failed by the societies in which they live, because without a supportive environment around you, breastfeeding can become almost impossible."

-Sue Ashmore, Director, Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative

28/05/2017

"Breastfeeding is the normal way of providing young infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development. Virtually all mothers can breastfeed, provided they have accurate information, and the support of their family, the health care system and society at large.

Colostrum, the yellowish, sticky breast milk produced at the end of pregnancy, is recommended by WHO as the perfect food for the newborn, and feeding should be initiated within the first hour after birth.

Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond."

-World Health Organization

28/05/2017

"Breastfeeding is a natural 'safety net' against the worst effects of poverty ... Exclusive breastfeeding goes a long way toward cancelling out the health difference between being born into poverty and being born into affluence ... It is almost as if breastfeeding takes the infant out of poverty for those first few months in order to give the child a fairer start in life and compensate for the injustice of the world into which it was born."

JAMES P. GRANT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNICEF (1980-1995)

28/05/2017

"Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the feeding of babies and young children with milk from a woman's breast. Health professionals recommend that breastfeeding begin within the first hour of a baby's life and continue as often and as much as the baby wants."

-Wikipedia

28/05/2017

Mammalia (/məˈmeɪli.ə/ from Latin mamma "breast")