Breast feeding has been the most natural response of a mother to satisfy the emotional and nutritional needs of her infant. That this can even serve as a natural barrier to infections and even save us money is perhaps not thought of. The effectiveness of the breast milk has long been established for reducing diarrhea, pneumonia, improved child nutrition and development along with its potential as Eco-friendly.
Breastfeeding benefits all sectors of society economically, ecologically and socially. However, over the last decades, women's self confidence in their capacity to nourish their infants has been undermined by many factors, including the power of the infant formula industry and a lack of social support. The major reasons for decline in breast feeding practices in India (50.9% by 3 months) are 1.rapid urbanization. 2. commercial pressure by marketing companies giving false messages. 3. lack of self confidence in mothers & dislike for breast feeding with the fair of loosing charm and beauty. 4. Practical problems of working mothers. 5.Most important improper technique and positioning while breast feeding leading to cracked nipples, engorgement of breasts and thus lactational failure a common problem faced by young mothers.
6. Delayed initiation of first feed leading to failure of lactation reflex.
7. Starting bottle or pacifiers along with breast feeding thus confusing the baby while sucking.
These and many other factors lead to failure to initiate breast feeding and an excuse for the mother to say I don’t have enough milk which is absolutely a myth because nature has been kind enough to provide milk to all the mammals to feed their young ones even to multiple ones at a time.
Benefits of breast feeding:-
There are many positive reasons for women to breastfeed their babies: breast milk is the best and most nutritious food, protecting them from illness and ensuring healthy physical and psychological development. For mothers, breastfeeding provides several health benefits such as reduction in the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, with the decrease in breastfeeding over the past several years one could daily hear the bad news of breast cancer in very young ladies attributed to hormonal imbalance led by stopping breast feeding their babies, a protective mechanism provided by nature. Breast feeding also helps in diminishing post-partum bleeding and iron deficiency anemia, and a natural means of spacing children by delaying ovulation. Breastfeeding also empowers women by increasing their self-confidence in their capacity to nourish and protect as well as nurture their babies and by decreasing their dependence on commercial products.
Millions of babies fall ill every year because they are not breastfed. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 1.5 million infant deaths could be avoided every year if all babies were breastfed. It has been observed that infants under 2 months of age are nearly six times more likely to die if not breastfed.
A study from Ghana on 10947 breastfed babies concluded that we could save 22 %( 2.5 lakh) neonates from death if breastfeeding was initiated within one hour of birth.
In Botswana in 2005/06, infant formula feeding was given to all the babies with the aim to prevent transmission of HIV infection fro their mothers suffering from AIDS. This led to increase in diarrheal disease in these children with the increase in national under five mortality by 18%.also hospital admissions increased by 50%. Breast milk being free of contamination, adulteration and available at desired temperature has been proven best anti-infective. This property is being attributed to certain immunoglobins, compliments, macrophages, lysozymes present in breast milk particularly during first few days (colostrum).

Incidence of atherosclerosis and various related heart ailments are on lower side in people, those who are exclusively breast fed in childhood .breast fed babies have also proven highly intelligent than artificially fed babies .

Artificially fed babies have to bear extra financial burden for purchasing milk, bottle, fuel etc., which amounts to almost Rs 1500-2000/month, which is beyond the capacity of average middle class family, which compels them to over dilute the milk, thus leading to malnutrition. at the national level almost Rs 15000-20000 crores (estimated cost of marketed milk)can be saved by breast feeding approximately 22 million babies born per year.
Perhaps the least known of all the advantages of breastfeeding are the ecological benefits. Breast milk is a natural and renewable resource which is often overlooked. Breastfeeding protects the environment by reducing the demands made on it and eliminates sources of waste and pollution. Artificial baby milks and processed baby foods are non-renewable products which create ecological damage at every stage of their production, distribution and use.
Breastfeeding is unique - it causes no pollution and is the best example of how humanity can sustain itself through provision of the first and most complete food for human life. It is vital to increase our efforts to support, protect and promote breastfeeding. All sectors of society need to learn about the advantages of breastfeeding and how to support the natural rights of mothers to breastfeed and babies to be breastfed. All women should have access to information and support in order to be able to make truly informed choices about these natural rights.
The breastfeeding culture is culture of peace, balance and harmony. It involves trusteeship and global responsibility towards our young, and seeks accountability from governments and various spiritual traditions to support families in nurturing children. Almost all great world religions recognize breastfeeding as a essential nurturing the young and respect women's role in doing so.
Processing artificial baby milks wastes energy
Baby milk consists of a mixture of factory-processed substances which may be then added to cow's milk and converted into powder at high temperatures. This wastes a lot of electrical energy. This energy usually comes from hydro-electric or nuclear power plants that are expensive and cause a lot of damage to the environment. Breast milk is naturally produced. A mother's normal low-cost diet is transformed into a natural, invaluable and specialized food for her baby! This is the most energy efficient food production system ever known!
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Breast milk needs no extra-packaging
The packaging of manufactured baby milk wastes tin plate, paper and plastic. Bottles, teats and other feeding equipment use plastic, rubber, silicon and glass. To bottle feed all US babies, the 550 million tins sold each year, stacked end to end would circle the earth one and a half times. In 1987, 4.5 million feeding bottles were sold in Pakistan alone. These feeding bottles stacked end to end would reach the top of Mount Everest.
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Disposal methods pollute air, land and groundwater
The packages used for baby foods, along with feeding bottles, teats and pacifiers, are commonly thrown away after use. Normally these are not biodegradable. Plastic feeding bottles, teats and pacifiers take 200 to 450 years to break down when disposed in landfills. Glass feeding bottles take an undetermined amount of time to break down. Landfill and incineration are the most common disposal methods. Landfill sites can pollute groundwater, and there is a shortage of suitable sites in some countries. Incineration releases pollutants into the air: if plastic bottles are burned, the fumes may contain dioxin and other toxic substances. The beauty of breast milk is that one need not worry about disposal and it is immediately available without any need for packaging and preparation. Breastfeeding is waste free.
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Transportation pollutes and wastes fuel
The fresh cows' milk, grains and additives used in making baby food travel long distances even before processing, and additional long distances on the way to central, then regional warehouses, and finally, retail outlets. Many countries import baby food and feeding bottles from the other side of the world. This means a great waste of fuel and contributes to air pollution everywhere. Breast milk does not have to be shipped around the world; every mother has a ready supply wherever she goes...
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Preparation - more waste
A 3 month old bottle-fed baby needs a liter of water per day to mix with the formula powder. Another two liters are needed to sterilize the bottles and teats. If the water is boiled over a wood fire, more than 73 kg of wood are needed to prepare a year's feeds. In many parts of the world, water and fuel are so scarce that few mothers have the luxury of keeping the bottles and teats clean and of using only boiled, cooled water to make up the feeds. Breast milk is ready to use at the right temperature, does not need to be sterilized and causes no pollution.
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Processed baby milks maybe contaminated
Baby milk is an industrially manufactured food which undergoes multiple processing, additions and alterations as it is converted from cows' milk plus additives to a can full of powder. No wonder that it has proved vulnerable from danger to contamination by harmful bacteria like E. Sakazakii and Salmonella, radio-activity, chemicals, foreign bodies and insect pests. Furthermore, the water mixed with the powder poses another danger of contamination, while problems have also arisen from teats breaking during use. Breast milk is a living substance. Each woman's milk is individually tailored for her own baby. What's more, her milk changes constantly - both during a feed and day by day - to meet her baby's evolving needs. When a mother is exposed to pathogens in the environment, she produces antibodies to combat them. The mother's antibodies are then passed on to her baby via her breast milk.
The dangers of Donations
Many violations of the code have been observed in emergencies with the donations of breast milk substitutes. During earthquake in Indonesia 2006, distribution of donated formula to children under 2 years led to increased prevalence of diarrheal disease to 25%, compared to 12% in breastfed babies.
Similarly in 2005 tsunami in Pondicherry, the occurrence of diarrhea was three times more among children who were fed with free breast milk substitutes than in those who were not fed with the same. These figures clearly show the misuse of these donations.

IMS Act and breast feeding:
To encourage and promote breast feeding various organizations like BPNI,IBFAN etc have been playing a commendable job by providing training people including health personnel ,highlighting benefits and objectives of breast feeding through printed and electronic media and interacting with various government officials for strict implementation of IMS (infant milk substitution act)1992 and amended in 2003 through the act of parliament and as per this act it is illegal:
1. To promote infant milk substitutes and feeding bottles intentionally /unintentionally on pretext of distribution of educational material
2. To make advertisement or exhibition of these products.
3. To sponsor any health official or related to child welfare to any tour, conferences etc.
4. To provide gifts or monitory benefit.
5. To distribute literature which directly or indirectly helps in promotion of their products and thus undermining breastfeeding?
DR.NIYAZ AHMAD BUCH
PROFESSOR (pediatrics).
SKIMS MEDICAL COLLEGE
SRINAGAR.
National trainer for infant and young child feeding
Niyaz_buch@yahoo.co.in