NEW DELHI: Comparing breastfeeding to vaccination which nourishes the baby lifelong, NGO Nutrition International has stressed that re-focusing on breastfeeding is even more important with the persistent fear of the third wave of COVID-19 and vaccination for infant and young children still not in sight.
The comments come on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week celebrated in the first week of August.
Comparing a mother's breast milk to vaccination which nourishes the baby lifelong, Mini Varghese, Nutrition International's Country Director for India said with the persistent fear of the third wave of COVID-19 and vaccination for infant and young children still not in sight, it makes re-focusing on breastfeeding even more important.
"Ensuring the implementation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth during all institutional deliveries will be an important step towards achieving the target. We need to identify barriers within the labour room and address them through capacity and infrastructure building to improve breastfeeding practices," she said.
Varghese further recommended investing in two aspects of critical importance.
Firstly, counselling of pregnant women and their families on early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding during every interaction with them.
Secondly, capacity building of labour room and postnatal care ward staff and retaining them in these facilities.
While the disruptions in services and counselling have highlighted the deficiencies in our health and nutrition services, they also present an opportunity to adopt new approaches, the NGO said in a statement.
"While India has a law to protect breastfeeding, it needs action for enforcement", says Varghese.
There is a need to accelerate efforts to make sure that the gains achieved in the past decades aren't lost.
Children are the future and adequate investments in their health and nutrition need to be made to ensure a solid foundation for their growth and development, it added.