Breastfeeding should be started during the hour after birth and allowed as the baby wishes. (Photo : Facebook)
The annual World Breastfeeding Week, which falls on Aug. 1 to Aug. 7, celebrates with the theme "Breastfeeding and Work: Let's Make It Work!" This is based on the decision of the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) to reminisce the program's 1993 theme that focuses on empowering women to breastfeed and work at the same.
WABA considers breastfeeding to be a human right, regardless of the nature of their work because the act has numerous benefits to both the mother and the child.
Breast milk is greater in terms of nutritional advantages than all of the food items an infant may take in, even prevailing over infant milk formulas. Consistently at the correct temperature, breast milk is ready to be consumed anytime and it involves less chance of contamination as it is directly taken by infants.
No other food item can replace the nutritional value that breast milk contains so feeding infants with solely breast milk for the first six months of life is highly advised by the World Health Organization.
However, providing the infant with continuous practice of breastfeeding could still be executed until the child becomes 24 months old, balancing the diet with food intake. The UNICEF, the United States National Human Development and Child Health Institute and Academy of American Pediatrics also believe that there are advantages to breastfeeding in terms of general health and immunity.
The United Nations' International Labor Organization director general Guy Ryder said that employment and maternity protection is the top priority in terms of enhancing global equality. In a statement, he said, "Globally, more than 800 million women workers, or 41%, still don't have adequate maternity protection."
The society and environment also get advantages from breastfeeding mothers. The workforce and health sector enjoys the benefit of not having to treat sickly families. The industrial sector will save energy and time on coming up with infant health supplements, as well as, lower the air pollution due to decrease in wastes generated from factories.
