UP works on lowering infant mortality via mother's milk

Varanasi, Dec 9: The Uttar Pradesh government has joined forces with UNICEF to launch a statewide awareness drive aimed at bringing down the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) through the popularisation of mother's milk to babies.

''While the IMR nationally stood at 60 deaths per thousand births, it is as high as 72 to 75 in UP and Bihar and maximum 80 per thousand in Rajasthan. On the contrary, the rate which is indicative of the overall health index is much less 12 to 14 per thousand births in the southern states, which is more than the rate prevailing in western countries ranging between five to eight deaths per thousand births,'' national vice-president of Indian Academy of Pediatrics, V N Tripathi told UNI.

In the city to attend NEOCON-2006 -- the four-day 26th Annual Convention of National Neonatology Forum -- Prof Tripathi, also the head of Pediatrics Department at the GSVM Medical College, Kanpur said two third of infant mortality in the country takes place during the neo-natal stage or within one month from the birth.

''While various other indicators of health index in the country like life expectancy have been undergoing changes, IMR has remained unchanged for the last six years and needs to be lowered down. An important tool for lowering the rate is popularising the practice of breast feeding among new mothers'' Prof Tripathi added.

Factoring the potential of mother's milk in lowering the IMR, the UP government and the state medical colleges in October last signed an MoU with the UNICEF to embark on the 'Baby Friendly Community Initiative' (BFCI). The project envisages popularising the practice of breast feeding among women by spreading awareness about the health benefits of mother's milk both for babies as well as their mothers, he added.

A total of 54 pediatricians, gynaeocologists and community medicine experts from nine medical colleges of the state including Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Meerut, Agra, Jhansi, Gorakhpur and Varanasi were being trained in Lucknow and will later teach school teachers, self-help group members, health workers and even panchayat members for popularising the practice of breast feeding among women, Prof Triapthi, also the State Coordinator of the Project maintained.

''The project aims at lowering down the IMR in UP by at least 22 per cent by December 2007,'' he added.

Prof Tripathi further informed ''we will work on educating the society on three primary aspects, starting with importance of initiating mother's milk within an hour of birth, exclusive breast feeding by mothers to babies for the first six months followed by administeration of home cooked food complemented by mother's milk to the baby till two years of age.

Enlisting the benefits of mother's milk to both mothers as well as their babies, Prof Tripathi said a major portion of infant mortality is caused by infections like diarrhoea and pnuemonia.

Feeding the baby starting from an hour of birth to two years of age ensures that the infant is immune to all types of infections, as mother's milk contains vital anti-bodies that streamline the immune system of the newly born, he added.

The mother's milk is a complete tailor made food containing certain fatty acids which aid the proper brain development of the child. ''Research has proved that children fed properly through mother's milk are far more more intelligent than children of those women who have not breast-feeded properly,'' he informed.

Practice of breast-feeding is as important for the mother's health. Terming as baseless the popular belief that breast-feeding adversely affects the figure of mothers, Prof Tripathi said ''on the contrary the practice helps newly turned mothers to stay fit, as their milk to babies melts down the excess flab gained during pregnancy period eliminating the problems of obesity.'' Studies have also shown that women, who feed children with their milk are less likely to contract breast and ovarian cancer, he added.

UNI