WHO Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding recommends that infants be breastfed within one hour of birth. WHO guidelines on maternity care state that “all mothers should be supported to initiate breastfeeding as soon as possible after birth, within the first hour after delivery”. Early initiation of breastfeeding confers a host of benefits. Putting newborns to the breast necessitates skin-to-skin contact, and this closeness between mother and baby in the moments after delivery provides both short- and long-term benefits. Immediate skin-to-skin contact helps regulate the body temperature of newborns and allows their bodies to be populated with beneficial bacteria from their mother’s skin. Putting babies to the breast within an hour of birth is strongly predictive of future exclusive breastfeeding. Children who are not put to the breast within the first hour after birth face a higher risk of common infections and death.

Percentage of children born in the last 24 months who were put to the breast within one hour of birth.

Sex of child, place of residence, household wealth, mother's education, administrative regions, health regions

Numerator: children born in the last 24 months who were put to the breast within one hour of birth. Denominator: children born in the last 24 months For more information, please consult Indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices: definitions and measurement methods. Geneva: World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2021. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240018389

Population-weighted average

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Early initiation of breastfeeding does not require that the infant suckled at the breast or that milk was transferred from breast to infant. It represents the practice of putting the baby to breast within the first hour, which is related to a number of positive outcomes including reduced mortality and exclusive breastfeeding.

data@unicef.org

UNICEF Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring

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