DOH: Exclusive Breastfeeding Modern-Day Family Planning

Iloilo City — Exclusive breastfeeding is a modern and natural method for birth spacing, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

In a media release, Health Secretary Paulyn Jean B. Rosell Ubial said that women who are into exclusive breastfeeding can plan their future and are able to provide proper nutrition, education, and health to themselves and to their families.

She stressed the significance of breastfeeding from birth up to the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary feeding six months and beyond, as an evidence-based lifesaving intervention known to reduce newborn and under-five child deaths.

Breastfeeding also assures that infants receive the most appropriate nutrition to help them reach optimum growth and development in the first 1,000 days of life.

DOH revealed that only 24.7 percent of infants reaching six months are being exclusively breastfed (National Nutrition Survey 2015) which contribute to infant deaths worldwide.

The 2012 World Health Assembly Resolution aims to increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months to at least 50 percent by 2025.

Despite of the low rates, DOH has succeeded in initiating breastfeeding during the 1st hour after birth with an accomplishment of 67 percent (2014 FHSIS Final Report).

In addition, the country also achieved a 70 percent rate on implementing Unang Yakap or the Essential Newborn Protocol Care to ensure the survival of newborns through time-bound interventions within the first hour of their lives, including breastfeeding initiation.

DOH recently commemorated the annual Breastfeeding and Family Planning Summit underscoring the theme “Breastfeeding and Family Planning: Keys to Sustainable Development.”

It aimed to highlight its significance in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in poverty, nutrition, good health and well-being through its impact on infant, child, and woman’s health.(JCM/LTP/PIA-Iloilo)