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Breastfeeding Essay

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Introduction

“Exclusive breastfeeding, or the feeding of babies with only mother’s milk for 6 months is the best way to feed infants” (WHO, 2017, Nutrition, para. 1). Early initiation of breastfeeding through early skin to skin contact between mothers and babies immediately after birth is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as a way of increasing the likelihood of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.

Early skin to skin contact is usually being practiced in spontaneous vaginal deliveries, but not in caesarean deliveries. In the traditional caesarean birth, maternal-infant separation is practiced, reducing early skin to skin contact and initiation of breastfeeding; thus, lowering the incidence of exclusive breastfeeding. Considering the increasing demand for caesarean operation in various parts of the world due to high risk and complications in pregnancy, some women opting for painless birth or simply because of a mother’s personal preferences, the number of mothers exclusively breastfeeding their babies is also decreasing. And if this continues, this could result to malnutrition in children especially those under 5 years of age, which may then result to high risk for infection and diseases, abnormal physical and mental growth and development, poor performance in school, less productivity as a member of the society, and even death.

The aim of this review is to evaluate existing literatures and evidences on

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