Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been found that there are some false claims around breast-feeding. To debunk this, the WHO and UNICEF have asked countries to implement strong legislation to protect families against false claims about the safety of breast-milk substitutes or aggressive marketing practices.
According to WHO-UNICEF, active COVID-19 virus till date has not been detected in the breastmilk of any mother with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. “It appears unlikely, therefore, that COVID-19 would be transmitted through breastfeeding or by giving breastmilk that has been expressed by a mother who is confirmed or suspected to have COVID-19,” it stated. However, the agencies stated that mothers will have to keep their hands cleaned with soap or sanitiser and wear masks as precaution.
The statement by WHO and UNICEF encourages women to continue to breastfeed even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It stated that researchers continue to test breast milk from mothers with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. “The numerous benefits of breastfeeding substantially outweigh the potential risks of illness associated with the virus. It is not safer to give infant formula milk.”
“The fear of COVID-19 transmission is eclipsing the importance of breastfeeding – and in too many countries mothers and babies are being separated at birth – making breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact difficult if not impossible. All on the basis of no evidence. Meanwhile, the baby food industry is exploiting fears of infection, promoting and distributing free formula and misleading advice – claiming that the donations are humanitarian and that they are trustworthy partners,” stated Patti Rundall, of IBFAN’s Global Council.
According to WHO and UNICEF, babies should be fed nothing but breast milk for their first six months. Even after that, until 2 years of age or beyond, the toddler should be given breast milk as well as other nutritious and safe foods
“The aggressive marketing of breast-milk substitutes, especially through health professionals that parents trust for nutrition and health advice, is a major barrier to improving newborn and child health worldwide,” says Dr Francesco Branca, Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety.
Babies who are exclusively breastfed are 14 times less likely to die than babies who are not breastfed. However, today, only 41 per cent of infants 0–6 months old are exclusively breastfed.
In a report issued by WHO, UNICEF, and the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), it was stated countries are still falling short in protecting parents from misleading information around harmful promotion of breast-milk substitute. This report provides updated information on the status of implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (BMS) and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions (the Code) in countries.
National legal status of the Code, 2020
