Exclusive breastfeeding is defined as feeding infants only breast milk, be it directly from breast or expressed, except drops or syrups consisting of vitamins, mineral supplements or medicine. Exclusive breastfeeding is one of the essential actions for infant development and survival.

Importance of Exclusive Breastfeeding:

Breast milk helps keep baby healthy. It protects against allergies, sickness, and obesity. It protects against diseases, like diabetes and cancer. It protects against infections, like ear infections. For infants to survive, grow and develop properly they require the right proportion of nutrients. Breast milk is rich in nutrients and anti-bodies and contains the right quantities of fat, sugar, water and protein. These nutrients are major pre-requisites to the health and survival of the baby. When a child is exclusively breast fed, their immune system is strengthened, enabling it to life-threatening illnesses like pneumonia and diarrhoea amongst other infections. In fact, reports indicate that babies who are not breast fed for the first six months of life are 15 times more likely to die from Pneumonia compared to newborns that are breast fed exclusively for six months after birth.