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World breast feeding week
Breast feeding is organized and promoted worldwide by the WABA (World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action), WHO (World Health Organization) and UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund). The goal is to promote elite breastfeeding by mothers for their babies in the first six months in order to get incredible health benefits, including all vital nutrients for the child, the healthy growth and development of the child, and to guard them from health problems and diseases including neonatal jaundice, pneumonia, cholera and many more.
This campaign was first started and celebrated by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action in the year 1992. Today it is being recognized in more than 120 countries by the UNICEF, WHO and their participants such as individuals, associations and governments. The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action was also established in the year 1991 on the 14th of February to promote the comprehensive breastfeeding culture worldwide by providing support to achieve real goals.
Breastfeeding has been emphasized to a great extent by the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) as essential for promoting healthy living for both the mother and the baby. It is highly recommended to all mothers that they should breastfeed their child for the first six months of life, and after that supplemented breastfeeding can be given for one, two or more years.
The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action had assisted and supported the social mobilization for the global promotion of the campaign of breastfeeding. WHO and WABA together chose a day committed to the promotion of breastfeeding which has been marked as one of the important international events.
The strategy of peer counseling can be a beneficial and exceedingly productive approach to distribute the message of breastfeeding worldwide in a shorter time period. Trained persons in the community can be peer counselors who can support the mothers to address their breastfeeding questions and issues.
AIMS OF THE BREAST FEEDING CAMPAIGN
• To create awareness in the peer group to support mothers in order to establish good breastfeeding practices.
• To initiate training for supporters to provide support to mothers and babies in more effective ways.
• To encourage the people to attend and expand the Peer Counseling programmes by letting them know the benefits.
• To call on governments to create more maternity facilities in order to increase the rate and duration of elite breastfeeding.
• To make known the contacts of the neighboring community support system so that breastfeeding mothers can get timely help and support after delivery.
There are five circles of support from which a mother should get assistance for breast feeding. All women are surrounded by these circles of support − Family and Social Network, Workplace and Employment, Government or Legislation, Healthcare and Response to Crisis or Emergency.
