(05 August 2008) Breastfeeding during the first hour of life and for the following six months makes a great difference in children's health and survival. It does not discriminate socially, ethnically or geographically. On the contrary, it ensures high-quality nourishment at very low cost. It is one of the best resources to protect the physical and emotional health of future generations.
During World Breastfeeding Week, convoked by the World Health Organization (WHO), the "Experiences in Social Innovation" contest organized by ECLAC with the support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is highlighting the Brazilian Four-leaf Clover, programme, which won first place in 2007.
The strategy developed by this programme has been an enormous contribution to maternal-infant health in the city of Sobral, state of Ceará, Brazil. The project provides assistance to low-income families at risk by reorganizing health care for mothers and children during four critical stages: prenatal, labor, post-partum and neo-natal.
Between 2001, the year it began, and 2006, this social programme has improved prenatal care rates and reduced infant mortality by 48.1%, from 29.7 to 16.2 per one thousand live births. In 2006, it assisted 1,148 families at an annual cost of US$175 for each one.
The Sobral city Health Department that devised the Four-leaf Clover strategy, identified the obstacles faced by mothers that impeded them from following orientations to avoid problems with their newborns. One of them was that mothers were not breastfeeding long enough. Women were ceasing to breastfeed due to the burden of domestic work or the need to accompany their other children.
The Maternal Breastfeeding Promotion Project was created to address this problem, and is based on home visits to mothers with difficulties breastfeeding. These "social mothers", women from the community itself who have had good experiences breastfeeding their own children, accompany these new mothers in a personalized way, teaching them to breastfeed and helping them care for their other children. This has improved the social context that impeded proper breastfeeding, transforming it into a rewarding experience.
The "social mothers" are trained as home or hospital caregivers, acquiring the skills needed to intervene in the four stages covered by the programme. Special emphasis is given to the advantages and difficulties of breastfeeding, and techniques to support it. This has allowed more children to be nourished naturally by their mothers, and for longer periods of time.
This innovative experience in Sobral is already being replicated in several other municipalities in the State of Ceará, and would change the lives of many mothers and infants all over the world, were it to be used as an example during World Breastfeeding Week.
Click here for more information on the Experiences in Social Innovation Project, or contact Anita Callejas at: anita.callejas cepal.org ; Telephone: (562) 210-2387 |
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