No breast milk, 15-fold death risk for babies

KARACHI:

Babies in Pakistan who are not breastfed face up to 15 times higher risk of death, health experts has warned, as the country struggles with alarmingly low rates of breastfeeding among newborns.

Only one in five Pakistani babies receives breast milk within the first hour of birth, while just 48% of infants under six months are exclusively breastfed, experts said at an awareness and training session held at the Karachi Press Club to mark World Breastfeeding Week. The session was organised jointly by the Sindh Institute of Child Health and Neonatology (SICHN), UNICEF and the Sindh Health Department.

SICHN chief Prof Dr Jamal Raza said the rate of breastfeeding within the first hour of birth remained extremely low, with only 20% of newborns receiving breast milk during this critical period. He said the trend of bottle-feeding was increasing every year, posing serious health risks to children.

"Babies who are not breastfed can face up to 15 times greater risk of death than those who are exclusively breastfed," Dr Raza said, adding that the risk was around three times higher among partially breastfed children.

He said low breastfeeding rates were associated with around 33,700 child deaths annually in Pakistan, including deaths from preventable diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea.

Dr Raza said breastfeeding was beneficial not only for babies but also for mothers, protecting women against breast cancer and other diseases.

He said increasing the breastfeeding rate to between 40% and 60% could prevent around 7,500 child deaths, while raising it to 70% could save nearly 14,000 lives. He stressed that given Pakistan's high newborn mortality rate, breastfeeding should begin immediately after birth. Infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months, followed by complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for two years or longer.