Tanzanian Mothers advised on benefits of early breastfeeding.

According to Tanzania National Nutrition Survey of 2014, in some regions, the level is even lower at less than 25 per cent, including Tabora, Geita, Shinyanga, Rukwa and Katavi regions in the Mainland.

UNICEF Representative in Tanzania, Maniza Zaman, said for many different reasons, including cultural norms and lack of knowledge, women in Tanzania are not receiving the support they need to start breastfeeding immediately after the baby is born.

“Giving babies other liquids or foods may be another reason early breastfeeding is delayed. We have to intensify our efforts so that many more Tanzanian children, and their mothers, benefit from optimal breastfeeding practices,” she noted.

Ms Zaman said in Tanzania, less than 41 per cent of children less than six months old were exclusively breastfed in 2014. In some areas like Ruvuma and Tanga in mainland Tanzania, the figure is as low as 25 per cent, and in Zanzibar 20 per cent of children were exclusively breastfed, with Pemba as low as 10 per cent.

Globally, 77 million newborns or 1 in 2 are not put to the breast within an hour of birth, depriving them of the essential nutrients, antibodies and skin-to-skin contact with their mother that protect them from disease and death, UNICEF has said.

“Making babies wait too long for the first critical contact with their mother outside the womb decreases the newborn’s chances of survival, limits milk supply and reduces the chances of exclusive breastfeeding,” said France Bégin, UNICEF Senior Nutrition Adviser.

She added, “If all babies are fed nothing but breast milk from the moment they are born until they are six months old, over 800,000 lives would be saved every year,” Tanzania has an opportunity to further highlight the need for more efforts in good breastfeeding practices.

From 1-7 August, World Breastfeeding Week will be celebrated in mainland Tanzania, along with the national Farmers’ Day known as ‘Nane Nane’. Activities will include televised roundtable discussions as well as health and nutrition talks with mothers in health facilities and in communities. In Zanzibar, the theme will be “breastfeeding, a key to sustainable development”. The focus will be on addressing social norms that contribute to poor breastfeeding practices.

Globally, progress in getting more newborns breastfed within the first hour of life has been slow over the past 15 years, UNICEF data shows. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, where under five mortality rates are the highest worldwide, early breastfeeding rates increased by just 10 percentage points since 2000 in East and Southern Africa but have remained unchanged in West and Central Africa.

The longer breastfeeding is delayed, the higher the risk of death in the first month of life.

Delaying breastfeeding by 2-23 hours after birth increases the risk of dying in the first 28 days of life by 40 per cent, delaying it by 24 hours or more increases that risk to 80 per cent.

She further said breast milk is a baby’s first vaccine, the first and best protection they have against illness and disease with newborns, accounting for nearly half of all deaths of children under five, saying early breastfeeding can make the difference between life and death