Delayed Breastfeeding In Newborns Increases Their Risk Of Dying Early

About 77 million newborns, or 1 in 2 who are not breastfed within an hour after they were born. Because of this, they do not get the essential nutrients, antibodies and skin-to-skin contact with their mother to protect them from disease and death, the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said.

France Bégin, UNICEF Senior Nutrition Adviser said that making newborns wait to have their first contact with their mothers decrease their chances of survival, limit milk supply and also reduce the chance of being exclusively breastfeed.  . "If all babies are fed nothing but breastmilk from the moment they are born until they are six months old, over 800,000 lives would be saved every year," he added.

According to immortal.org, UNICEF data revealed that encouraging mothers to breastfeed their newborn within the first hour of life had had a very slow progress in the last 15 years. An example given was the mortality rates of children under five years old in sub-Saharan Africa. It was found that it has the highest mortality rate in the world, and early breastfeeding in East and Southern Africa increased by just 10 percent since 2000, while the numbers in West and Central Africa has remained unchanged.

In South Asia, rates of early breastfeeding have tripled in the last15 years, from 16% in 2000 to 45% in 2015, however, the change in numbers still means that 21 million newborns wait too long to be fed. A report in Huffington Post revealed that the time breastfeeding is delayed play a major role in the infant's mortality in the first month. Delaying breastfeeding by two to 23 hours after birth raises the risk of death in the first 28 days of life by as much as 40%. Delaying it for more than 24 hours increases the risk to a whopping 80%.

This is mainly due to the fact that "breast milk is a baby's first vaccine, the first and best protection they have against illness and disease," Begin says. UNICEF studies revealed that women are not getting enough assistance to start breastfeeding immediately after giving birth, even when a doctor, midwife or nurse is present to assist in delivery.

In countries like the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa, women who give birth with a medical professional present was found to less likely start breastfeeding in the first hour, compared to those who had non-professional relatives or friends present.

In some countries, babies are generally fed infant formulas, cow's milk or sugar water in the first three days of life, instead of breast milk. Doing this makes it more difficult for mothers to start and continue breastfeeding. It was found that only 43% of babies under 6 months old are exclusively breastfed worldwide. Those infants who are not breastfed at all are reportedly 14 times more likely to die early than those who were fed with breastmilk only.