60% of Babies in Danger due to Late Breastfeeding after Birth’

Nearly 60% of children around the world are not breastfed within the first hour of their birth, putting them at risk of illness and even death, a new report has revealed.
Current guidelines of the World Health Organization and Unicef ​recommend that children should be breastfed within one hour of their birth and fed only with breastfeeding for up to six months old.
Breastfeeding have a number of benefits for mothers and babies. It reduces the risk of breast cancer in women, while the first breast milk contains nutrients and antibodies ̵ important for keeping the child safe from disease. It is also linked to a lower risk of future obesity in children, while skin-to-skin contact allows the baby to come into contact with the mother’s microbes that help develop their immune system.
The WHO and Unicef’s new report stresses that delays in breastfeeding can endanger children.
“When breastfeeding is delayed after birth, the consequences can be life-threatening – and the longer newborns are left waiting, the greater the risk,” the authors write. “Improving breastfeeding practices could save the lives of more than 800,000 children under five every year, the vast majority of whom are under six months of age.”
If the babies are breastfed at 24 hours of their birth, they have twice the risk of death of those breastfed within the first hour.
> Shiuly Rina