الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Maternal breast feeding is the most natural and safe way to feed an infant .Breast feeding provides a unique combination of proteins, lipids,carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, enzymes and living cells, as well as known and unquestionable nutritional, immunological, psychological and economic benefits.Exclusive breast feeding is defined as consumption of human milk with no supplementation of any type (no water, no juice, no foods, and no non human milk) except for vitamins, minerals and medications. National and international guidelines recommend that all infants be breastfed exclusively for the first six months of life. The reasons behind the new recommendation include strong protective effects for infant gastrointestinal infection,. There were concerns that this recommendation could result in iron deficiency, other micronutrient deficiencies and growth faltering in susceptible infants .. However, an 8% global increase in exclusive breastfeeding to six months is estimated to have reduced infant mortality by 1,000,000, decreased fertility by 600,000, and saved countries billions of dollars in unneeded breast milk substitutes. |