WHO: Breastfeeding advice could save 1.3m lives a year

Published on Friday 31 July 2009 22:18

TEACHING new mothers how to breastfeed could save 1.3 million children's lives every year, it was claimed yesterday.

However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said fewer than 40 per cent of mothers worldwide follow their recommendation of breastfeeding infants exclusively in the first six months. Many abandon it because they don't know how to get their baby to latch on properly or suffer pain and discomfort.

"When it comes to doing it practically, they don't have the support," WHO expert Constanza Vallenas said.

This is a problem in both rich and poor countries, she said, and she called for more assistance in hospitals, health clinics and communities for new mothers.

Pregnant women should also be made aware of the risks they face from both seasonal flu and the new H1N1 pandemic, the WHO said, calling for more attention to influenza symptoms in the vulnerable group.

Expectant mothers should be given top priority for antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu, the WHO spokeswoman, Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, said.