Current status
Some 39 per cent of newborns in the developing world (excluding China) are put to the breast within one hour of birth. Regional averages range from a high of 59 per cent in Eastern and Southern Africa to a low of 27 per cent in South Asia.
Most newborns do not receive the benefits of early initiation of breastfeeding
Percentage of newborns put to the breast within one hour of birth
*: Excluding China due to lack of data
Note: CEE/CIS regional average is not available due to lack of data.
Source: MICS, DHS and other national surveys, 2003-2008.
In a subset of countries with available data, the low proportions of early initiation of breastfeeding contrast with substantially higher proportions of infants who are delivered by a skilled health professional and of infants whose mothers received antenatal care at least once from a skilled health professional. These data highlight a lost opportunity – a critical gap between mothers who receive care from a skilled health professional during pregnancy or delivery and mothers who provide their children with the early initiation of breastfeeding – and the need to improve the content and quality of counselling by health-care providers.
A missed opportunity: Health system contacts are not resulting in early initiation of breastfeeding
Percentage of infants who were put to breast within one hour of birth, percentage of births attended by a skilled health professional, and percentage of pregnant mothers with at least one ANC visit with a skilled health professional
Note: Analysis based on a subset of 74 countries with data on all three indicators available from the same survey.
Source: MICS, DHS and other national surveys, 2003-2008.
In no region do more than half of infants less than 6 months old receive the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding. Rates are particularly low in West and Central Africa, CEE/CIS, and the Middle East and North Africa.
Substantial variation in exclusive breastfeeding rates across regions
Percentage of infants < 6 months who are exclusively breastfed
Note: East Asia and Pacific regional average is not available due to lack of comparable breastfeeding data for China.
Source: MICS, DHS and other national surveys, 2003-2008.
In most countries, less than half of infants receive the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding
Percentage of infants under 6 months old who are exclusively breastfed
Source: MICS, DHS and other national surveys, 2003–2008.
Less than 60 per cent of children 6–9 months old receive solid, semi-solid or soft foods while being breastfed. An important issue is that the quality of the food received is often inadequate, thus not providing sufficient protein, fat or micronutrients for optimal growth and development. Meeting the needs for minimum required dietary quality is a challenge in many developing-country settings, and it has often not been given enough emphasis. Children may not receive complementary foods at the right age (often either too early or too late), may not befed frequently enough during the day, or the quality of the food may be inadequate. New programming options are now available to meet this challenge.
Continuum of feeding practices
Developing world averages of key indicators (%)
* Excluding China due to lack of data
Source: MICS, DHS and other national surveys, 2003-2008.
Data indicate that as children get older and complementary foods are introduced, levels of continued breastfeeding are high (75 per cent) at about 1 year but decrease to 50 per cent by age 2.
References
Part of this section is adapted from Tracking progress on child and maternal nutrition – a survival and development priority, UNICEF, November 2009.