Maternal and Child Health Community Focusing on Breastfeeding in August 2007
Dear Friends, This year the World Breastfeeding Week has called for enabling mothers to breastfeed their babies immediately after birth to prevent a significant number of neonatal deaths. However, lack of support from the service providers and general lack of awareness about its benefits and role in health and growth of newborns make it difficult for mother to initiate breastfeeding within first hour of birth. For creating wide spread awareness and action MCH Community is Focusing on issues related to Early Initiation of Breastfeeding in August. We are inviting you to send us your issues, case studies, reports of workshops or news and participate in the upcoming discussions. We will consolidate and send out all the discussions and your materials at the end of this month. We also wish to thank you for your tremendous response to the first query of this month - “Ensuring Early Initiation of Breastfeeding in Institutional Settings”. Many action points have emerged and we look forward more such valuable points. As always we are looking forward to your support and encouragement for upcoming discussions on this theme… for ensuring Breastfeeding as a right for every Mother and Child! With warm wishes, Meghendra Banerjee and Deeksha Sharma Resource Team MCH Community
From Vartika Saxena, Himalyan Institute Hospital trust, Dehradun Regarding plan for WBW celebration, I am happy to share with you plan of our organization. § Celebration of Breastfeeding week at Adolescent resource centers § Organization of training on community Mobilization for the village volunteers(7-13th August) For details Click here Regards, Vartika		From Rajinder Gulati, ESIC Model Hospital, Ludhiana I am giving below the plans of celebrating WBW in Ludhiana 1. A talk on Breastfeeding techniques by the Food and Nutrition Board, Ministry of Women and Child Development, · Community Food and Nutrition Extension Unit, Chandigarh on: August 1, 2007 on topic 'Breastfeeding Techniques" · Community Food and Nutrition Extension Unit, Ludhiana on August 7, 2007 on 'Myths associated with Breastfeeding" 2. Radio Talk to be relayed from 90.40 FM Community Radio Station Ludhiana. 2 programs of 15 minutes each in continuity on the topic general questions associated with breastfeeding. Program to be relayed from AIR Jalandhar and Doordarshan Jalandhar are yet to be finalized. 3. Health talks on breastfeeding at Colleges, · Ramgarhia Girls College, Ludhiana, · Christian medical College, Ludhiana · Guru Teg Bahadur Charitable Hospital, Ludhiana 4. Articles on the theme in different newspaper. with regards, Rajinder Gulati
From Saroj K. Adhikari, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Ministry of Women & Child Development, New Delhi I think maximum no. of responses are coming on this issue. It's a great achievement for the MCH Community to generate so much interest. Regards. Saroj
From Alok Sahai, Bharatiya Mahila Evam Gramin Utthan Sansthan, Basti We have  organised  WBW meeting at three places around 70 women present at each location photograph will be send later on Alok
From Anju Dadhwal Singh, WHO India, New Delhi Please find here few press releases from UNICEF website on WBW celebrations across India: World Breastfeeding Week 2007 (1-7 August) http://www.unicef.org/india/health_3159.htm This year, emphasis is on empowering families, young mothers and communities for early initiation of breastfeeding and correct breastfeeding practices… Religious leaders to educate about breastfeeding in villages http://www.unicef.org/india/health_3170.htm UNICEF has tied up with religious leaders to ensure that newborns are not caught in the web of myths and are administered mother's milk during the first hour of their birth… World Breastfeeding Week celebrated across Tamil Nadu http://www.unicef.org/india/health_3173.htm UNICEF joined hands with public health centres and hospitals across the state to encourage all communities to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth…		From Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA2015 Campaign Coordinator, Global Healthcare Information Network Dear Bulbul and colleagues, This is my first post and I am delighted to be on this excellent list. I'm based in UK and have an interest to help others meet the information needs of mothers and health workers for better child health care in developing countries. I moderate an email discussion group called CHILD2015 that looks at these issues. I would like to invite you to share your experience with professionals in other countries worldwide about how to improve advice on breastfeeding. We are currently having an email discussion about advising mothers to prevent maternal-to-child transmission of HIV. I attach an invite below. If you'd like to join, please let me know. Then, as a member of both groups, we can start to strengthen sharing of experience between India and the rest of the world, and vice versa. Best wishes, Neil Web: http://www.ghi-net.org Web (HIFA2015): http://www.hifa2015.org HIFA2015  email group: http://www.dgroups.org/groups/hifa2015 CHILD2015 email group: http://www.dgroups.org/groups/child2015
From Ramya Gopalan, UNDP, New Delhi Breast crawl’ phenomenon benefits mothers and newborns http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_40548.html UNICEF and its partners are highlighting a natural occurrence called the ‘breast crawl’, which can benefit mothers and newborns around the world…
From Shyama Sundari, Dept. of WD&CW, Hyderabad Wishes  form APSACS We are planning to organise IEC camps on prevention of parent to child transmission from August, 2007 to Dec.2007.  During that period every month we are planning to organize ANC camps spl focus on + ANCs. Please share the information in particular with the breast feeding practises for HIV+ mothers without much focus on counselling skills. Because in rural areas most of the counsellors are not skilled enough to provide counselling to the rural mothers.  Simple, easy to follow convenient to follow by a rural mother pl be communicated. We are waiting for your immediate response. Thanks with regards Shyama		From Claire Noronha, CORD (Collaborative Research and Dissemination), New Delhi · Any help from community members on spreading the first hour message and also good weaning practices -- in the form of materials which can be used for a small community sharing -- would be very useful to us at this stage. · Just a quick note arising from our own small qualitative study in north India.  No dissenting voice, whether literate or illiterate about the importance of breast milk though I am not sure of the early initiation concept. It would possibly need reinforcement in as many ways as possible and at as many levels as possible as everyone suggests.  Dais are very popular with the poorer sections so this campaign is necessary at this level as well. Claire Noronha
Queries that are going to be posted on this theme · How to strengthen early initiation component through C-IMNCI · Qualitative research in breastfeeding, child mortality/ Health watch and response · Resources to ensure Affordability/Policy support · HIV and mixed feeding Queries posted on this theme till now Ensuring Early Initiation of Breastfeeding in Institutional Settings- Experiences. Query Closed Socio-Cultural Practices Ensuring Early Breastfeeding- Experiences. Reply by 21 August 2007 To see previous messages please log in to our archive What else do you wish to discuss? Send them in. Also invite your friends to join in.
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