Innovative approaches to breastfeeding promotion & support

This solution was shared by PRE-LAUNCH RESEARCH TEAM , 14 May 2021

Print date: 27 February 2025 05:37

Description of the innovative solution

Education - adult Education - youth Women empowerment Advertising restriction Public-awareness campaign Technical training/support Consumer choice Food environment - external Food environment - personal Tuft's Innovation Lab

Innovative approaches to breastfeeding promotion and support entails several efforts working in synchrony and coordination. Evidence from LMIC countries show that advocacy is needed to generate the necessary political will to enact legislation and policies to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding at the hospital and community levels. This political-policy axis in turn drives the resources needed to support workforce development, program delivery, and promotion. Research and evaluation are needed to sustain the decentralized program coordination required for goal setting and system feedback. Meta-analyses indicate that breastfeeding practices are highly responsive to interventions delivered in health systems, communities, and homes. Maternity leave and workplace interventions are also beneficial, although studies are few and are generally limited to high-income settings. Studies show that the effects of interventions on breastfeeding outcomes are achieved when interventions are delivered in combination. For example, combined health systems and community interventions can increase exclusive breastfeeding by 2·5 times.

Primary users

Women
Pregnant women
Natl. Govt - Ministries of Health
Non-Government Organizations
Internatl. Governing Bodies

Dietary impact

Breastfeeding does not only contribute to a world that is healthier, better educated, more equitable, and more environmentally sustainable. Breastfeeding also improves the survival, health, and development of all children.It saves women’s lives and contributes to human capital development. The benefits span populations living in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries. Improved breastfeeding practices could prevent 823 000 annual deaths in children younger than 5 years of age and 20 000 annual deaths in women caused by breast cancer. Breastfeeding also reduces morbidity and improves the educational potential of children and probably their earnings as adults.

Planetary impact

Breastfeeding is not yet quantifiable in monetary terms. However, environmental costs are associated with not breastfeeding. Breastmilk is a “natural, renewable food” that is environmentally safe and produced and delivered to the consumer without pollution, unnecessary packaging, or waste. By contrast, breastmilk substitutes leave an ecological footprint and need energy to manufacture, materials for packaging, fuel for transport distribution, and water, fuel, and cleaning agents for daily preparation and use and numerous pollutants are generated across this pathway. More than 4000 L of water are estimated to be needed along the production pathway to produce just 1 kg of breastmilk-substitute powder In the USA, 550 million cans, 86 000 tons of metal, and 364 000 tons of paper, annually used to package the product, end up in landfills Breastfeeding and human milk’s contribution to environmental sustainability and food security year-round should be considered in climate-smart development goals at national and global levels

Equity impact

Breastfeeding improves the survival, health, and development of all children.It saves women’s lives and contributes to human capital development.

Main concerns

he main lessons learned are that breastfeeding promotion needs to occur through several efforts working in synchrony and coordination. Evidence from LMIC countries show that advocacy is needed to generate the necessary political will to enact legislation and policies to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding at the hospital and community levels. This political-policy axis in turn drives the resources needed to support workforce development, program delivery, and promotion. Research and evaluation are needed to sustain the decentralized program coordination required for goal setting and system feedback.

Supply chain segment

Consumers

Maturity level

Moving to scale

Criteria

Food quality Food safety Food affordability Climate mitigation Reducing pollution

SDG target

SDG 2: Zero Hunger SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being SDG 5: Gender Equality SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Context

Urban Peri-urban Rural

Examples and additional resources

Real-world examples

See this solution in action in different contexts and settings around the world

Case looking at the outcome of breastfeeding promotion and support in Bangladesh

Policy information

Coherent and multi-pronged intervention to increase breastfeeding in Bangladesh

Bangladesh

thelancet.com/journal...fulltext

Shared by PRE-LAUNCH RESEARCH TEAM

Additional resources

Learn more about this solution through studies, articles, business cases, and other information

Why invest, and what it will take to improve breastfeeding practices?

Scientific paper

Meta-analysis of breastfeeding interventions and what it takes to make them successful, with examples from high and low resource level settings.