It is extremely crucial that a baby is breastfed in under one hour after birth. Early breastfeeding curbs the risk of neonatal mortality (death between zero to one month of age), according to a study published in Public Library of Science (PLOS) One journal.
Up to 1,36,047 infants for the study. Researchers found that infants who had been breastfed one hour after birth had a 33 per cent less risk of dying as compared to those who were breast fed between 2 to 23 hours after birth. “Infants who started on breastfeeding 24 hours after birth had over two times the risk of neonatal mortality,” the study states. Infants that were observed were largely from Ghana, Tanzania, India, and Nepal among other countries.
Also in the subgroup of infants exclusively breastfed in the neonatal period, those who were initiated into breastfeeding 24 hours after birth had up to 85 per cent greater risk of neonatal mortality as compared to infants initiated within 24 hours.
In 2015, 50 lakh children younger than five years of age died, of which up to 46 per cent deaths occurred in the neonatal period. Breastfeeding is of great importance to boosting a baby’s immunity. However, only 50 per cent of world’s infants are breastfed during the first hour of their life.
Reasons for a baby’s mortality were diarrhoea, respiratory infection, sepsis, omphalitis, hypothermia, weight loss, and malnutrition. In Tanzania, a connection was established between delayed breastfeeding and umbilical cord infection. In Nepal cohort, an increased risk of hypothermia, where the temperature of the baby’s body plummets was observed, while in Malawi, those babies who were initiated on breastfeeding at a later hour had a two-fold risk.
The study says that early breastfeeding initiation exposes the infant to maternal colostrum, which is thought to decrease the risk of microbial translocation, accelerate intestinal maturation, and promote resistance and epithelial recovery from infection.
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