As Le Huong Giang, 28, bounces her healthy 10-month-old son in her lap, she recalls her worries and proud accomplishments of the past year. When pregnant, she didn’t believe she could feed Huy for six months with breastmilk only.
When she saw a television advertisement everything changed.
Produced by Alive & Thrive, the ad showed cute babies talking about the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding and told mothers how they could access breastfeeding support.
While Giang was still pregnant she started attending counselling sessions with Doan Thi Thuy, a nurse at An Hai Bac Health Commune Station and counsellor at Little Sun clinic. As part of Alive & Thrive, the clinic provides breastfeeding and child health support groups for pregnant women and mothers.
When time came to deliver her son, Giang knew what to do to give her newborn the best start at life. With the help of trained health staff, she put Huy to her breast and he immediately started nursing.
“I feel so thankful that I breastfed him,” says Huong Giang"
I feel so thankful that I breastfed him
Creating a supportive community
Alive & Thrive, a programme managed by FHI 360 and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was launched in Viet Nam in 2009 to improve breastfeeding rates. In 2009, fewer than 20% of babies in Viet Nam were exclusively breastfed until they reached 6 months, as recommended by WHO. Nearly 1 in 3 Vietnamese children under age 5 were also stunted.
“Breastmilk is all the child needs,” says Roger Mathisen, programme director for Alive & Thrive in Southeast Asia. “But many mothers believed they did not produce enough milk and as a result gave their infants water, formula and food prior to reaching six months of age.”
Additionally, women in the workplace often did not have enough maternal protection from their employers and not all health workers were convinced of breastmilk’s nutritional benefits.
In partnership with the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, UNICEF and other organizations, Alive & Thrive developed advertisements, organized support groups in more than 1100 Little Sun Clinics, and trained community workers in infant and young child feeding.
By 2014, the programme had reached more than 2.3 million mothers of children under the age of 2, through mass media, community support groups and counselling at health facilities. More than 85% of mothers surveyed said they had seen the campaign’s breastfeeding messages. As a result, exclusive breastfeeding rates increased to 62%, in Alive & Thrive intensive areas.
“Mass media had a huge impact on mothers. Most of them got solid basic knowledge from the ads and tried to practice the recommendations,” says Thi Thuy. “Those who came to the clinic for vaccination during the fourth month of pregnancy would come back again and again for further counselling sessions on breastfeeding and complementary feeding.”
Viet Nam’s government also created a supportive environment for breastfeeding through banning advertising of breastmilk substitutes marketed for children under 24 months—as recommended in WHO’s International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. The government has increased paid maternity leave from 4 to 6 months and many employers set up lactation rooms.
“It was the synergy of all four components of this project and the support from so many partners, that worked to change Viet Nam’s behaviour and attitude towards breastfeeding,” says Jean Baker, director, Alive & Thrive Programme.
Supporting mums worldwide to breastfeed
Globally, an estimated 1 in 3 infants under six months are exclusively breastfed – a rate that has not improved in two decades. By scaling-up breastfeeding to near universal levels, more than 800 000 lives could be saved every year.
WHO and UNICEF are leading a global Breastfeeding Advocacy Initiative to increase political commitment for breastfeeding, so that rates of exclusive breastfeeding will improve to at least 50% by 2025.
The Initiative encourages governments to implement the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, enact family leave and workplace policies, and improve access to lactation counselling and community networks—all components of the Alive & Thrive programme in Viet Nam.
“Breastfeeding is one of the smartest investments a country can make,” says Laurence Grummer-Strawn, WHO technical officer in Nutrition for Health and Development. “WHO supports mothers to breastfeed anytime, anywhere, as it is the most nutritious and socially beneficial method of feeding for young children.”
During World Breastfeeding Week, 1-7 August, WHO is supporting mothers to breastfeed anytime, anywhere and encouraging everyone to do their part to make society breastfeeding-friendly.