International report reveals rates of babies breastfeeding in first hour

TIMING is everything and in this case it’s said to be critical — sometimes even a matter of life or death — but millions of us are missing out.

WORLD guidelines recommend there’s something that should happen in the first hour of life but for many it’s not even taking place.

Experts say newborns who breastfeed in that 60 minutes are significantly more likely to survive, with even a delay of a few hours after birth posing life-threatening consequences.

But a new report shows three in five babies around the world aren’t breastfed in that hour, also putting them at higher risk of disease and making them less likely to continue breastfeeding.

That’s an estimated 78 million babies, according to work from UNICEF and the World Health Organisation released this week.

High-income countries including Australia and New Zealand are even failing to track data on the rates in that first period.

In high-income countries 21 per cent of children are never breastfed, compared with only 4 per cent in low and middle-income countries.

The report found that in nearly every country early breastfeeding rates were lower among newborns delivered by caesarean section.

Skin-to-skin contact and suckling at the breast stimulates a mother’s production of breastmilk, including colostrum — also known as the baby’s “first vaccine” because it’s rich in nutrients and antibodies.

The study on 76 countries was released to coincide with World Breastfeeding Week and showed rates in the first hour were highest in eastern and southern Africa (65 per cent) and lowest in East Asia and the Pacific (32 per cent).

A model breastfeeds while walking the runway for the 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit show. Picture: Getty Images

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Australia’s infant feeding guidelines recommend exclusive breastfeeding to about six months old when solid foods are introduced, and continued breastfeeding until 12 months and beyond, if both the mother and infant wish.

Australian National Infant Feeding Survey statistics showed that in children up to two years old in 2010, 90 per cent initiated exclusive breastfeeding.

Only 15.4 per cent of babies were exclusively breastfed to five months.

UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore said timing was everything when it came to breastfeeding.

“In many countries, it can even be a matter of life or death,” she said.

“Yet each year, millions of newborns miss out on the benefits of early breastfeeding and the reasons — all too often — are things we can change.

“Mothers simply don’t receive enough support to breastfeed within those crucial minutes after birth, even from medical personnel at health facilities.”

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said we must urgently scale up support to mothers.

“Be it from family members, health care workers, employers and governments, so they can give their children the start they deserve,” he said.

The study found many reasons why the practice isn’t happening including using formula, a rise in C-sections and gaps in the quality of care.

Common feeding practices including discarding colostrum, feeding the baby honey or health professionals giving the newborn a specific liquid, such as sugar water or infant formula.

Earlier studies show that newborns who started breastfeeding between two and 23 hours after birth had a 33 per cent greater risk of dying compared with those who started within one hour of birth.

Among newborns who started breastfeeding a day or more after birth, the risk was more than twice as high.

The report urges governments, donors and other decision-makers to adopt strong legal measures to restrict the marketing of infant formula and other breastmilk substitutes.