Manuel A. Baeza Bacab: Exclusive breastfeeding must be prioritized

As established in 1992, World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated from August 1 to 8, organized by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) with the support of the WHO and UNICEF. This year, like 2020, the theme and objectives are aligned with the environment and climate change: "Let's prioritize breastfeeding. Building sustainable support systems."

To achieve the objectives of World Breastfeeding Week 2025, the following strategies were proposed:

Promote actions to connect breastfeeding support systems to contribute to a more sustainable environment.

Inform people about their role in building favorable and sustainable environments for breastfeeding.

Engage with individuals and organizations to improve collaboration and support for breastfeeding.

Strengthen ongoing support for breastfeeding as a vital component of creating a sustainable environment.

In this sense, a sustainable breastfeeding support system must involve the entire family, especially fathers, and society at large to ensure that every mother has a supportive environment and the necessary resources to successfully breastfeed her baby.

Remembering that, according to the WHO recommendation, breastfeeding should be exclusive for the first six months of life, followed by the introduction of complementary foods, and breastfeeding should continue for two years or more, according to the wishes of both mother and infant.

This involves building a system that provides continuous support before, during, and after birth. Mothers need help managing the challenges of breastfeeding, including returning to work and food industry marketing. The system must be based on continuity, inclusion, and integration of all individuals and social and political structures.

Some years ago, the late, renowned pediatric hematologist Dr. Frank Oski, an expert on iron-deficiency anemia, recommended breast milk for its prevention and called attention to the abandonment of this form of feeding, which he called a “dream product” that could feed and immunize every child on Earth, was widely available, required no storage or delivery, helped mothers plan their families, and reduced the risk of cancer—yet the world refused to use it.

The previous comment related to the observation that at the beginning of this century, breastfeeding was eroded, as in 2012 in Mexico only 14.2% of mothers exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life. Today, the most recent data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (Ensanut) indicate that this percentage has increased to 34.2%. However, this improvement, although desirable, is insufficient, as only one in three infants receives the benefits of exclusive breast milk during the first six months of life, the most important stage for child growth and development.

Furthermore, another observation was that exclusive breastfeeding was more common in urban areas than in rural areas (35.4% vs. 28.9%), something that is particularly striking since for many years breastfeeding was a stronghold in rural areas.

As we know, human milk is not only the ideal food for newborns and infants, but also offers countless bioactive factors that protect both baby and mother. Various studies have highlighted the benefits of breast milk. In children, it can prevent the development of infectious, allergic, and autoimmune diseases, as well as obesity, diabetes, and other diseases caused by poor nutrition. In women, it can prevent postpartum depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and breast and ovarian cancer, among other benefits for the couple.

For all of the above reasons, it is very important to reestablish the culture of breastfeeding. That's why we must recover it, offering our children not only the best food, but one that is always ready, at the ideal temperature, and that establishes a lifelong bond of mother-child love: "I will never leave you, I will always love you."

We must remember that babies are born with immunological developmental immaturity, which increases their morbidity and mortality in the vulnerable early years of growth. However, wise nature created a wonderful food, breast milk, which not only provides passive immunological protection but also promotes the maturation of infants' immune systems. It has been estimated that universal breastfeeding could prevent the deaths of 820,000 children under the age of 5 and the deaths of 20,000 women from breast cancer each year worldwide.

Nor can we forget the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these was that the milk of women who had suffered from the disease and/or were vaccinated contained protective antibodies for up to six months, in addition to other components such as lactoferrin, alpha-lactalbumin, and mucins, which innately prevented the virus from entering cells and replicating.

Finally, it must be noted that breast milk is the gold standard for feeding newborns and infants and cannot be replaced by formula. Breast milk utilization has recovered, but it is still insufficient, necessitating the collaborative work of civil society, educational institutions, and government agencies to restore it and provide babies with the best food for their growth and development.

Specialist in Clinical Immunology and Allergy. Secretary of the Mexican Academy of Pediatrics.