Exclusive breastfeeding can save 22.3% infant deaths

By KULSUM MUSTAFA CNS
Published: Jul 11, 2010 04:08 Updated: Jul 11, 2010 04:09 Arab News (www.arabnews.com)
In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, 270,000 infants die in the first month of their birth, a grim situation which breastfeeding advocate Dr. KP Kushwaha says could be drastically reversed if every pregnant woman in the state ensure that her newborn gets mother's milk in the first hour of birth.
Statistics state that 270,000 infants born in Uttar Pradesh (UP) die in the first month of their birth and every sixth malnutrition child lives in UP.
"The grim situation of infant mortality and child malnutrition can be changed overnight if every pregnant woman in the state ensure that her newborn gets mother's milk in the first hour of birth," said Dr. KP Kushwaha. A pediatrician and a great advocate of breastfeeding, Kushwaha, head of the Department of Pediatrics, BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, was addressing media persons at the monthly Media for Children hosted jointly by Media Nest and UNICEF at the Uttar Pradesh Press Club on every second Saturday afternoon.
Kushwaha said that malnutrition will drastically bring down the GDP and will add to 50 percent death of infants. He bemoaned the facts that social customs and psychological mindset prevents a mother from breastfeeding her child immediately after his birth.
"It is sad, but true that only 46.4 percent of mother's do exclusive breastfeeding. The other 53.6 percent do not even realize the great harm they are doing to their child, society and country," said Kushwaha, who has passionately pursued his mission to ensure a healthier society through mothers following the baby friendly health initiative.
Through audiovisual medium he explained the correct methods of breastfeeding. Kushwaha said that though it is said repeatedly that breastfeeding is a natural instinct of all mothers the truth is that it is a technique that must be taught to a woman and for this trained counselors are essential.
Kushwaha illustrated this information with the work he and his team have done in Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh. He said that the baby friendly health initiative (BFHI) in just one a half year of initiating this project in 600 villages the percentage of mothers who exclusively breastfed their child was raised from a mere 6.6 percent to 50 percent.
In the same way the percentage of mother's who initiated breastfeeding within an hour rose from 10.9 percent in November 2006 to 72 percent in April 2008.
Listing the US$80,000 billion infant food market as one of the main hurdles that confronts the practice of mother’s milk, Kushwaha said that there are laws against infant foods' availability and their open advertisements but the money involved is so huge that often these laws remain just on paper.
Speaking during the occasion, UNICEF communication specialist Augustine Veliath said that Kushwaha is the rarest of rare doctors who has through his devotion to the cause helped save millions of children.
"His behavioral change in infant feeding pattern has received great response not just in India but also abroad. Dr. Kushwaha is today an authority on the issue and his 'best practice experiments' are being used all over the world," saidVeliath.
Senior journalist and secretary-general of Media Nest, Kulsum Talha, cited Kushwaha for raising awareness among media persons on this issue, helping build their capacity, which is the motive of the program. (CNS)