World breastfeeding week: UNICEF urges everyone to support breastfeeding

Beijing, 1 August 2014 – Today, UNICEF China joined the launch of World Breastfeeding Week in China for 2014, by calling on everyone whether they be fathers, employers, family members to support mothers to breastfeed their child. This global week of action, started 22 years ago, is dedicated to protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding.  Despite being started more than two decades ago, the week's purpose and the need remain as competing factors prevent mothers from breastfeeding their children.

Global evidence clearly demonstrates that exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months and then up to two years is one of the best investment any society can make for the survival, and growth of their children, especially their newborns.

Children who are exclusively breastfed are 14 times more likely to survive the first six months of life than non-breastfed children. Starting breastfeeding in the first day after birth can reduce the risk of new-born death by up to 45 per cent.  And by continuing to breastfeed for the first two years, a child has the best start in life, by reducing the chance they will be sick, improving their overall nutritional status and strengthening their overall health and immunity.

Children who are breastfed have higher IQs.  Studies have found children who are breastfed for between 7 and 9 months will on average have an IQ four points higher than a child breastfed between 4 and 6 months and six points higher than a child who is breastfed for less than one month.

Yet despite this evidence, worldwide, 92 million children under six months of age, two out of three babies are either artificially fed or fed a mixture of breast milk and other foods. In China, as in other countries, exclusive breastfeeding rates have declined to around 28 per cent.

“We need to redouble our efforts and commitment to promote breastfeeding - from supporting initiation and continuation through the first difficult days after birth - to provide support and space for mothers to breastfeed and continue to breastfeed, especially, when they are back at work and in public spaces, “ said Tim Sutton, UNICEF Deputy Representative in China.

The 10 Square Metres of Love campaign, launched last year two days before Children's Day, jointly by the National Centre for Women and Children's Health and UNICEF China, aims to create a way for individuals, organizations, communities, public facilities, Government offices departments, State Owned Enterprises, and corporations to commit to allocating a space to enable women to continue to breastfeed, whether at work, in the home or in public.   It gets people to join the campaign and mark the breastfeeding space on a mobile APP map, which can be downloaded and shared.

The success of the campaign, that went viral through social media, has resulted in nearly 800 breastfeeding spaces being opened in 77 cities across China.

Please click here to see the letter from UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week 2014.