WHO Breastfeeding Recommendations Every Mother Should Know

Are you a first-time mom? It’s hard to summarize everything you need to do when you’re breastfeeding. Health experts and organizations all have their own set of recommendations which can drive you further into confusion. Fortunately, respected public health institutions like the World Health Organization and Unicef have been the biggest advocates of breastfeeding! Here’s a run-through of all the WHO breastfeeding recommendations!

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When I first started researching into the world of breastfeeding I had so much confusion. Much of the info actually seemed to contradict itself. But, I started to find out that the most factual info actually came from worldwide acclaimed organizations, which were not governed by any political agenda. Instead, these organizations help to educate and promote the most up to date health information for breastfeeding moms. That’s why I always refer to their recommendations!

In A Nutshell…

The WHO deems breast milk as the most optimal and unequaled source of nutrition. It provides all the nutrients and immunological properties that support a child’s healthy growth and development.
In terms of breastfeeding, the WHO recommends:
- Exclusive breastfeeding should be done for 6 months. After this, infants should be weaned with complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed.
- Extended breastfeeding can be done from 2 years or beyond.
- Breast milk protects a child from early infections and can provide them with other long-term health benefits
- Mothers can also receive both short and long term benefits from breastfeeding
- Infant formula cannot replicate breast milk. Thus, breast milk is still preferred over formula milk.
In terms of breastfeeding support, the WHO recommends:
- The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, which encourages hospitals and health facilities to help a mom establish early breastfeeding
- Breastfeeding support in forms of laws. In the USA, breastfeeding rights are protected under PPACA.
- Breastfeeding should be promoted in the workplace. Mothers in the USA are given ample break times and spaces to nurse while at work.

WHO Breastfeeding Recommendations

When it comes to feeding your child, breast milk is the most optimal and unequaled source of nutrition for an infant’s healthy growth and development. Not only does it provide both short and long-term benefits for the baby, but it can also have a positive effect on the mother’s health and well-being.

Breastfeeding is regarded as a life-saver. However, most mothers do not get to breastfeed their children. In the USA alone, only 1 in 4 infants is exclusively breastfed for six months as recommended. The low breastfeeding rates add to more than $3 billion a year to the medical costs for both mother and children in the country.

In response to this breastfeeding trend, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF along with their public health partners teamed up to strengthen the advocacy for breastfeeding. They introduced the Global Breastfeeding Advocacy Initiative with the aim of raising awareness and political commitment to breastfeeding worldwide.

The Vision of WHO For Breastfeeding Around The World

The Global Breastfeeding Advocacy Initiative envisions “a world where all mothers and families are empowered, enabled, and supported to optimally breastfeed their children. They also foresee that early initiation, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, continued breastfeeding for up to two years, and appropriate and safe complementary feeding becomes the social norm that helps children survive and thrive to their full potential.”

8 Reasons Behind The WHO Breastfeeding Recommendations

The WHO has put into place these recommendations as a guide on breastfeeding for mothers, their families, and the societies they belong to.

1: Breastfeeding for the first six months is crucial

The WHO recommends giving solely breast milk to infants from 0 to 6 months in order to achieve optimal growth, development, and health. Breast milk is a baby’s first natural food source. It provides a complete dose of energy and nutrients that the baby needs in the first few months of their lives. And as they grow older, breast milk will still be able to support a part of their nutritional requirements.

In addition, the WHO recommends the following:

Hospitals should encourage mothers to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour after giving birth
Exclusive breastfeeding should be done to achieve optimal growth, development, and health. After this, to meet their growing nutritional needs, infants should wean with nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed.
Breastfeeding a toddler is encouraged. Nursing with breast milk can be continued for up to two years or beyond.

These recommendations were concluded from the numerous studies showing that exclusive and extended breastfeeding provided countless benefits for both mother and child.

2: Breastfeeding protects infants from childhood illnesses

Ultimately, the breast is best when it comes to feeding your growing baby. Other than supporting their development, they also contain antibodies that boost their immunity and protect them against common childhood illnesses and infections. This protective property can especially be found in the first milk that the mom produces — the colostrum.

Breastfeeding is known as one of the world’s most effective ways to reduce early childhood deaths. It can specifically lower your child’s risk against:

Acute otitis media (ear infections)
Asthma
Diabetes (type 2)
Gastrointestinal infection (vomiting/diarrhea)
Eczema (a skin disease)
Inflammatory bowel disease
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) (for preterm and low birthweight infants)
Obesity
Respiratory infections
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

3: Breastfeeding also benefits mothers

Rejoice, mommyz! After all your hard work and efforts, you can also reap some benefits from breastfeeding. According to several studies, mothers who breastfeed exclusively in the first few months are said to recover from childbirth more quickly and easily.

The act of breastfeeding releases the hormone oxytocin. This hormone acts on the uterus and speeds up its recover to return to its regular size. It can also decrease postpartum bleeding.

Exclusive breastfeeding is also regarded as a natural (although not really fail-safe) form of contraception. Studies show that there can be up to 98% of protection in the first six months. This is because breastfeeding can delay a mother’s cycle of ovulation.

In addition, breastfeeding offers both short and long term health advantages like the following:

Women who breastfeed have a lower risk for iron deficiency anemia
Eases weight loss postpartum
Helps with postpartum depression
Lowers risk for ovarian, breast, and endometrial cancer
Some studies show that breastfeeding may also reduce the risk for type II diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular diseases

Last but not least, nothing can top the joy a mother feels when they are able to provide breast milk for their child. Breastfeeding elicits a one-of-a-kind emotional experience for both mother and baby. The bond between a breastfeeding mother and her child is a connection like no other.

4: Breastfeeding has long-term benefits for children

Apart from its initial benefits, breastfeeding can also contribute to your child’s future health. Teens and adults that were breastfed were less likely to be overweight or obese. Interestingly, they also were shown to have higher IQs, perform better in terms of academics, and have higher school attendance.

Breastfed babies were also associated with financial stability once they reach their adult lives. Better child health and development leads to lower healthcare costs. Thus, the family and society as a whole can enjoy economic gains just from breastfeeding alone!

5: Infant formula does not contain the antibodies found in breast milk

Breast milk cannot be replicated — not even by a specially developed formula. The main factor that formula milk can’t easily duplicate is breast milk’s immunological properties. The antibodies present in a mother’s milk can protect a baby’s health even in the long run.

Food safety is also an issue as improperly prepared formula milk which can harm your baby’s health. Formula milk should only be made with clean and safe water and fed using sterilized equipment.

Lastly, formula-fed babies are at a higher risk of malnutrition. This can be due to switching breastfeeding and formula milk or because of over-diluted formula. Frequent breastfeeding is key for adequate milk supply. But, if formula milk is being fed in between breastfeedings, it may be hard to keep up with a good supply. This can eventually lessen your breast milk production.

6: Support for mothers is essential

Although breastfeeding is a natural act, it’s still a learned behavior. Several women encounter a variety of challenges and difficulties with breastfeeding at the start of their journeys. That’s why it’s important that they are able to get help and support from their families, their health facilities, and the government.

Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative

To support and provide care for both the mother and their baby, the WHO and Unicef launched the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI). This encourages hospitals and health facilities to provide maternity and newborn services through their program — the Ten Steps To Successful Breastfeeding.

Included in this package are the policies and procedures that hospitals need to follow in order to promote breastfeeding. According to studies, the 10 steps can affect how early breastfeeding is established, a mother’s ability to exclusively breastfeed, and how long they can continue breastfeeding.

Here are the 10 Steps To Successful Breastfeeding:

Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within half an hour of birth.
Show mothers how to breastfeed, and how to maintain lactation even if they should be separated from their infants.
Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.
Practice rooming-in – that is, allow mothers and infants to remain together – 24 hours a day.
Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
Give no artificial teats or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants.
Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.

Breastfeeding Support and Laws In The USA

The advocacy for breastfeeding is supported and protected by several laws in the United States. Under the public health care system, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), breastfeeding mothers have the right for the following:

Breastfeeding Support Under The Prevention And Public Health Fund. Since 2012, the Prevention and Public Health Fund have been allocating a portion of its budget each year to the CDC Breastfeeding Programs.
Breastfeeding Support Included As A Preventive Service. Breastfeeding is part of primary care intervention and women’s preventive services. Under this, educational breastfeeding materials, nursing bras, breast pumps, and lactation counseling should be covered under your insurance.

In addition, there are also state laws in place to protect the rights of breastfeeding moms:

50 states including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have laws that allow women to breastfeed in any public or private location.
30 states, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands excuse breastfeeding from public indecency laws.
29 States, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have laws that allow breastfeeding in the workplace.
17 States and Puerto Rico exempt breastfeeding mothers from jury duty.
6 States and Puerto Rico have implemented policies that promote breastfeeding awareness, education, and campaign.

Lactation support groups and consultants are also widely available in the US. They can be accessed through the following organizations:

7: Mothers should continue breastfeeding at work

It can be quite challenging for a breastfeeding mom to continue nursing while they are at work and away from their babies. Because most working moms only have a limited maternity leave, several of those that go back to work abandon breastfeeding partially or completely.

Their main issues are the lack of space and time. A breastfeeding mother needs a safe, clean, and private area in or near her workplace in order to breastfeed. Thus, the WHO recommends that workplaces enable breastfeeding in work environments. Mothers should have the right for paid maternity leave, part-time work arrangements, on-site creches, facilities for expressing and storing breast milk, and have ample breastfeeding breaks.

In the US, the Break Time For Nursing Mothers Provision in the PPACA requires employers to give their breastfeeding workers at least a year of breastfeeding benefits in the workplace. This includes reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom space to express and store their breast milk.

8: Solid foods should be phased in at six months

Babies grow at rapid rates in the first few months. By the time they are 6 months old, breast milk alone would not be sufficient to meet their increased nutritional needs. The WHO recommends complementary feeding alongside continued breastfeeding to adequately nourish a baby 6 months and older. WHO notes the following:

Breastfeeding should not be decreased when starting on solids
Food should be given with a spoon or cup, not in a bottle
Food should be clean and safe
Ample time is needed for young children to learn to eat solid foods

When it comes to weaning your child, you should be guided by the following WHO principles on Complementary Feeding:

Continue frequent, on-demand breastfeeding until 2 years of age or beyond
Practice responsive feeding (for example, feed infants directly and assist older children. Feed slowly and patiently, encourage them to eat but do not force them, talk to the child and maintain eye contact)
Practice good hygiene and proper food handling
Start at 6 months with small amounts of food and increase gradually as the child gets older
Gradually increase food consistency and variety
Increase the number of times that the child is fed: 2–3 meals per day for infants 6–8 months of age and 3–4 meals per day for infants 9–23 months of age, with 1–2 additional snacks as required
Use fortified complementary foods or vitamin-mineral supplements as needed
During illness, increase fluid intake including more breastfeeding, and offer soft, favorite foods.

The Bottom Line…

Feeding your child with breast milk is the best decision you can do for both you and your baby. Breastfeeding advocates like the World Health Organization are fighting to increase the rates of breastfeeding around the world. They do so by giving out evidence-based recommendations — only ensuring the best for you and your little one.

In summary, the WHO breastfeeding recommendations include:

Exclusive breastfeeding
Safe and adequate complementary feeding while breastfeeding
Extended breastfeeding
Preference for breast milk over formula milk
Baby-Friendly hospital initiative and 10 steps to successful breastfeeding in health facilities
Breastfeeding support by the government and the workplace

To find out more about your breastfeeding rights in the USA, you can read the 2019 Updates on the PPACA for Breastfeeding.