Empowering, Supporting and protecting breastfeeding: World Breastfeeding Week 2021
NeoLacta Lifesciences has been working with over 200 super-specialty hospitals across India, creating awareness about the importance of breastfeeding amongst parents, doctors, nurses, and society at large.
New Delhi : Globally, across 120 countries, the first week of August (1st to 7th August) is celebrated as ‘World Breastfeeding Week’. This campaign which started in 1992, aims to inform, anchor, engage and galvanise action on breastfeeding and related issues. Breastmilk is a personalized source of early-life nutrition, providing optimal levels of nutrients in volumes regulated by the mother–child feeding dyad, and an array of biological factors crucial for normal physical, immunological and neurological development of the child. To achieve optimal growth, development and health the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends infants initiate breastfeeding in the first hour of life, are exclusively breastfed for the first six months, and thereafter receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods, while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond (WHO & UNICEF, 2003). Pasteurised human breast milk is recommended in situations, where the mother is unable to breastfeed her baby, thereby helping her cover the gap with human milk during early life for the infant.
The rise of commercial milk formulas matters for the health of women and children. Global infant formula sales grew by 115% between 2005 and 2019, from 3.5 to 7.4 kg/child, led by highly-populated middle-income countries. Growth was rapid in South East and East Asia, especially in China, which now accounts for one-third of world sales.
Supporting the theme of 2021, ’Protect Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility’ NeoLacta Lifesciences has been closely working with all relevant stakeholders including healthcare providers and parents to create awareness and highlighting the links between breastfeeding and survival, health and wellbeing of women, children and nations.
Now, with the development of 100% human milk-based products through proprietary processing technologies, NeoLacta Lifesciences is able to ensure an improved access to human milk, for infants unable to be breastfed informs Dr. Vikram Reddy, Chief Scientific Officer, NeoLacta.
Mothers who struggle with breastfeeding, now have an option of providing pasteurised human breast milk, thereby completely avoiding bovine milk-based products such as infant formulas, from the baby’s diet, informed Dr. Geetika Gangwani, Lactation Consultant. She goes on to emphasize that improving breastfeeding rates require focused counseling for mothers along with ensuring the availability of recommended alternatives such as pasteurised human breast milk.
While breastfeeding alone is sufficient for most infants, premature babies need a helping hand as they are at a high risk of suffering from growth deficits. NeoLact MMF (Mother’s Milk Fortifier) is a revolutionary product for feed fortification in premature and sick babies who require higher nutrient intakes to match the growth rates with their term-born peers.
Buoyed by the overwhelming response of clinicians and backed by a robust logistical network covering most metros and major cities, NeoLacta Lifesciences has embarked on a mission towards improving, empowering, protecting and supporting breastfeeding as the golden choice during early life nutrition. https://neolacta.com/
