Breastfeeding produces numerous benefits for both mom and baby. Nearly 823,000 children under 5-years-old and 20,000 women could be saved annually if optimal breastfeeding practices were universally adopted. For infants, breast milk supports optimal cognitive and physical development, and reduces the risk of deadly diseases like diarrhea and respiratory infections. For nursing women, breastfeeding helps improve birth spacing, and reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancers and chronic diseases.
Breastfeeding plays an essential role in both maternal and child health, but it’s not just mom’s job. All of us can step up for breastfeeding! To achieve WHO’s Global Nutrition Target of increasing the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life to at least 50 percent by 2025, we must all commit to protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding. This World Breastfeeding Week, join us as we continue to elevate breastfeeding across communities and health systems around the world:
- Read about USAID Advancing Nutrition’s support to breastfeeding mothers in the Kyrgyz Republic in this new photo-essay.
- Check out USAID’s Breastfeeding Fact Sheet, now available in English, French, and Spanish.
- View the recording of our World Breastfeeding Week virtual event Developing Capacity: Strengthening Breastfeeding Counseling in Kenya Through Mentorship.
- Navigate our interactive webpage to learn more about how USAID continues to promote and protect breastfeeding.
- Learn more about or work to improve breastfeeding counseling through mentorship in Kenya and how we’re helping to build political will and accountability for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative in Malawi and the Kyrgyz Republic.
- Subscribe to our email list for more breastfeeding and USAID Advancing Nutrition content: www.advancingnutrition.org/subscribe
- Follow USAID Advancing Nutrition on Social Media:
- Follow @NutritionForDev on Twitter for breastfeeding-related messages throughout the month of August.
- Connect with us on LinkedIn to see more breastfeeding and nutrition content.
Learn More About Our Breastfeeding Work
- Infant and Young Child Feeding when COVID-19 is Confirmed or Suspected
- Infant and Young Child Feeding Image Bank
- Staff Blogs:
- It Takes a Village to Raise a Mother, Altrena G. Mukuria, Senior Technical Advisor
- Elevating the Voices of Breastfeeding People, Jennifer Yourkavitch, Results for Development, Director of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
- Supporting Breastfeeding during the Pandemic, Jennifer Yourkavitch, Results for Development, Director of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
- Continuing Safe Breastfeeding During COVID-19: An Emergency Response to Combat Misinformation, Yaritza Rodriguez, Project Coordinator