Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Resource Review
All actors should take a public health approach to strengthen the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and breastfeeding counseling, including during emergencies; implement maternal social protection that includes paid leave and workplace support in the formal and informal sectors; advocate for greater access to skilled breastfeeding counseling; and reinforce support for breastfeeding dyads by developing appropriate and consistent communication messages.
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Resource Review
Countries need to invest in policies and programs that support women’s breastfeeding decisions. Promoting lactation-friendly employment conditions, and ensuring the availability of health services that support women and their families in breastfeeding, are particularly important.
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Resource Review
Healthy complementary feeding after 6 months of age requires foods from four food groups daily. In addition to breastfeeding, babies need 2–3 meals and one snack per day. Sugary snacks and formula are unhealthy options for young children.
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Resource Review
This one minute animated video discusses the benefits of breastfeeding for both baby and mother. USAID has worked with partners for more than 40 years to promote breastfeeding in programs and policies, helping families chart productive and prosperous futures for their children, and supporting communities to thrive.
USAID Nutrition Resource Hub
This module is intended to prepare facilitators/trainers with technical knowledge and skills to train doctors and nurses about adolescent and women’s nutrition and anemia throughout the life cycle. It is designed to strengthen their knowledge and skills for counseling pregnant women during six antenatal care visits and three postnatal visits to help women learn to care for their own nutritional needs during pregnancy and lactation.
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Resource Review
Optimal breastfeeding is one of the most powerful solutions to save the lives of infants and children. Improving breastfeeding extends beyond supporting the woman and child—requiring encouragement and support from skilled counselors, family members, health care providers, employers, policymakers, and others.
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Resource Review
Maternal employment is the greatest barrier to exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) while knowledge of the benefits of EBF is the greatest facilitator. Interventions focusing on these and other maternal-infant factors will optimize EBF and improve maternal-child health outcomes.
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Resource Review
Nutrition-intensified antenatal care (ANC), which provides more home visits and counseling on core nutrition messages than traditional ANC programs, increased iron–folic acid and calcium supplement intake. It also increased exclusive breastfeeding, consumption of vitamin A–rich foods and other vegetables and fruits, and gestational weight gain. Behavior change requires strengthening the delivery and use of maternal nutrition services in ANC services.
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Resource Review
Early research indicates that vaccines do not pass through breast milk—but antibodies do.
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Resource Review
Authors call for examining how the gendering of breastfeeding, infant feeding, caregiving, and nurturing align with the social distribution of power, authority, and resources in ways that reinforce gender inequality in political, economic, and social status.