World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated annually from August 1-7 to promote exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued breastfeeding for up to two years. The goals are to understand how breastfeeding helps achieve Millennium Development Goals like reducing poverty and child mortality, assess progress on improving infant and young child feeding, and stimulate interest in breastfeeding's importance. Breastfeeding exclusively for six months and continued breastfeeding up to two years can improve child survival rates by 20% and contributes to achieving all eight Millennium Development Goals. The document advocates for supporting breastfeeding through enabling environments and discouraging artificial feeding.

1. World Breast Feeding Week 2014
1-7th August 2014
Babies Need
Mom-Made Not Man Made#
#Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India

2. orld Breast Feeding Week (WBFW) World Breastfeeding Week (WBFW) is an annual celebration held from the 1st to 7th August to promote and encourage breastfeeding exclusively for 6 months and continued with complementary feeding till 2years.
Objectives:
- To understand how “Breastfeeding and Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) ” can help achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) and how they relate to breastfeeding and Infant and
- To assess progress made and key gaps in improving IYCF
- To call attention on need on accelerating action to promote, protect and support breastfeeding
- To stimulate interest amongst young people to understand the importance of breastfeeding
Millennium Development Goals: Internationally accepted “8 goals” set to gauge the progress made to fight poverty and promoting health and sustainable development in a comprehensive way
Millennium Development Goals and Breastfeeding: IYCF contributes to each MDG. Exclusive breastfeeding till 6 months and optimal complementary feeding can improve child survival by 20%
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3. Millennium Development Goals and Breastfeeding & Infant and Young Child Nutrition
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger : Prevents hunger and malnutrition; affordable
2. Achieve Universal primary education: Contribute to mental and cognitive development and lays foundation for school readiness
3. Promote gender equality and empower women: Breastfeeding gives every child a best start in life
4. Reduce child mortality: Breastfeeding and adequate complementary feeding practices improve child survival by 20%
5. Improve maternal health: Breastfeeding is associated with reducing postpartum blood loss, ovarian cancer and breast cancer
6. Combat malaria/HIV AIDS and other diseases: Exclusive breastfeeding improves survival of children exposed to HIV
7. Ensure environmental safety: Breastfeeding entails less waste when compared to commercial products
8. Develop global partnership for development: Global strategy supports fostering multi-sectoral partnership

4. Feeding (IYCF) Global Infant and Young Child Feeding Strategy
Promotes
- Initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth, as soon as possible
- Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, not even water
- Initiation of safe/hygienic, age appropriate, nutritive and calorie dense
complementary feeding after completing 6 months (180 days) with continued
breastfeeding till 2 years
Supporting breastfeeding by creating an enabling environment for mothers at maternity wards, workplaces, community setups and even at home
Protecting breastfeeding behavior by discouraging artificial feeding/ infant foods and feeding bottles

5. Breastfeeding: Best Start to life
 Saves lives
- 1 in every 5 child deaths in the first month can be prevented by initiating breastfeeding within 1 hour
- 1 in every 7 child deaths in India can be saved by correct Breastfeeding practices
- Every child’s right and a new born child’s first immunization
 Protects the Child
- There is no substitute to mother’s milk
- Early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding protects the new born against jaundice, asthma, hypothermia (low body temperature ) and allergies
- Protects against onset adulthood diseases (diabetes, high blood pressure)
 Benefits the Child
- Easily digestible
- Perfect blend of nutrients for a child
- Builds immunity and promotes optimal growth for the child
- Enhances brain & visual development
- Breastfed babies have higher intelligence quotient
 Benefits the Mother
- Reduces post- delivery bleeding
- Exclusive breast feeding can help in preventing next pregnancy
- Helps in post-delivery weight loss
- Protects against breast & ovarian cancer

6. Involvement of Media in Breastfeeding promotion
 Why
- Reach out to both literate and illiterate audiences with messages in local language.
- People imitate role models and accept behaviour change quickly
 Role
- Creating awareness in community at large on optimal Infant and Young child feeding practices, targeting youth, Pregnant and Lactating women Husbands/ Mother-in-laws, work place settings etc
- Protecting and promoting optimal IYCF practices
- Promote optimal breastfeeding practices
 Clear up the myths and misconceptions
 Create awareness on the hazards of artificial/bottle feeding
 Help build an enabling environment to promote breastfeeding practices in various setups including workplaces, community and even homes
- Promote IMS act
 Create awareness on IMS Act amongst community and the advertisers
 Discourage advertisements etc promoting bottle feeding/ artificial feeding