World Breastfeeding Week 2024 (1-7 August), Theme and Importance

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year across the globe with the support of WHO, and UNICEF from 1-7 August in commemoration of the 1990 Innocenti Declaration. World Breastfeeding Week started in 1992. According to the World Health Organization, breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival and yet currently, fewer than half of infants under 6 months old are exclusively breastfed.

World Breastfeeding Week 2024

The World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) campaign is supported by WHO, UNICEF, and many Ministries of Health and civil society partners. In 2018, a World Health Assembly resolution endorsed World Breastfeeding Week as an important health promotion strategy, according to the information on the WHO website.

The theme for World Breastfeeding Week 2024

Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All.  This year will be focusing on breastfeeding and work, providing a strategic opportunity to advocate for essential maternity rights that support breastfeeding – maternity leave for a minimum of 18 weeks, ideally more than 6 months, and workplace accommodations after this point. World Breastfeeding Week remains a vital platform to raise awareness, advocate for action, and celebrate the importance of breastfeeding for maternal and child health.

In 2018, a World Health Assembly resolution endorsed World Breastfeeding Week as an important health promotion strategy. With a different theme each year, it aims to promote the enabling environments that help women to breastfeed – including support in the community and the workplace, with adequate protections in government policies and laws – as well as sharing information on breastfeeding benefits and strategies

History of World Breastfeeding Week

In 1989, WHO and UNICEF released a joint statement titled “Protecting, Promoting and Supporting Breastfeeding: The Special Role of Maternity Services.” The statement outlined the benefits of breastfeeding—infant and maternal health, environmental sustainability, and accessibility. WHO and UNICEF outlined actionable steps for nations to change the community perception of breastfeeding and increase cultural support for moms who choose to breastfeed. In 1990, UNICEF wrote the Innocenti Declaration, committing to protect and support breastfeeding by addressing social norms, and workplace regulations and providing adequate education for mothers. The doctrine recognizes that breastfeeding is a critical element of holistic wellness for mothers and children, protecting their physical health and promoting their mental health. Breastfeeding provides ideal nutrition for children in the first two years of life, and it also is foundational in long-term health and wellness into adulthood. For the mother, breastfeeding lowers the risk of breast and ovarian cancer and decreases the chances of developing postpartum depression.

Significance of World Breastfeeding Week

World Breastfeeding Week aims to highlight the huge benefits that breastfeeding can bring to the health and welfare of babies and benefits to maternal health, focusing on good nutrition, poverty reduction, and food security. World Breastfeeding Week has the dual goal of improving the health of babies and promoting, protecting, and supporting the rights of women to breastfeed anywhere and at any time.

Aims of World Breastfeeding Week

• To support mothers through peer groups to promote, establish, and carry on breastfeeding by informing families of the benefits of Peer Counseling.
• To educate and train health care practitioners to provide support to mothers and babies in effective ways.
• Call governments to action to recognize the importance of the protection and promotion of breastfeeding and provide legislation to support a breastfeeding mother.
• To deepen knowledge within the community to enhance, promote, and protect breastfeeding.

Let’s celebrate World Breastfeeding Week by starting the conversation; about how can we better enable Mums and families to feel supported in their breastfeeding journey.

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