Driving awareness on breastfeeding across key cities from August 1st to 7th
New Delhi, August 03, 2016: Philips Avent, enabling healthy living and preventive lifestyles for new mothers and families through meaningful innovations, launched its awareness campaign #Feeding Our Future aimed at educating new mothers, caregivers & families along with healthcare professionals on the importance of breastfeeding. This is in line with this year’s World Breastfeeding Week theme ‘A Key to Sustainable Development’, and will run through the week i.e. August 1st to 7th across New Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune and plans to reach out to more than 5 lakh mothers.
During the campaign, Philips Avent will reach out to mothers, caregivers and healthcare professionals through multiple touchpoints offline at Cloudnine Hospitals and other leading hospitals by hosting lactation camps and educational sessions. These camps will run throughout the month of August. Also reaching out to the modern day parenting community present online, tweet chats with subject matter experts will be organise dalong with hosting myth busters and trivia through Philips India social media channels and websites frequented by parents.
Jayati Singh, Business Head Health and Wellness, Philips India said, “Breastfeeding has tremendous short and long term health benefits for both mother and baby, setting the stage for healthier futures. Philips Avent understands these at the most intimate level and is therefore, drawing much needed attention to some of the key barriers why mothers discontinue to breastfeed. We are reaching out to the parenting and healthcare communities through 25 touchpoints across 8 cities and additionally creating conversations through online medium. Through #FeedingOurFuture campaign, we are committed to empowering mothers and work with them to develop the tools and resources they need to achieve their breastfeeding goals.”
Did You Know? Breastfeeding Facts:
- In India, the reported breastfeeding rate of women fell from 90% at one year and 73% the next; a fact that can be attributed to the survey being conducted only in the urban areas10
- Across the world an overwhelming 94% of mothers wanted to start breastfeeding while in India, 100% women wanted to breastfeed after childbirth10
- While 41% women never started or did not breastfeed beyond the first six months across the globe, only 10 % of Indian women were not breastfeeding at all or stopped within the first six months10
- While the world over, trends suggest that women who take complete breastfeeding class tends to be larger in the group breastfeeding for 7–12 months compared with 0–3 months, India and Egypt defy the trend with most women sustaining breastfeeding over 12 months, irrespective of a comparatively low breastfeeding class attendance10
- Up to 60% of women who breastfeed stop earlier than they want to1. There are numerous reasons why: some experience problems with infant sucking or latching on, which can cause pain or discomfort during breastfeeding; others believe that they do not produce enough milk; some encounter medical problems, or choose to return to work early1,2.
- Milk Volume & Flow
Milk volume and flow are closely linked to mother’s psychological well-being and stress levels3–5. In a study carried out by Philips Avent, mothers expressed significantly more milk after 10–15 minutes of doing a breathing exercise or listening to music6. It has also been shown that feeding an infant or expressing milk in a calm, relaxing, purpose-built environment with a home-like atmosphere enhances the breastfeeding experience7.
- Returning to Work
Studies show that, should they choose to continue to breastfeed, mothers who return to work after giving birth have to cope with a number of barriers; from the attitudes of their colleagues and the length of maternity leave to the challenges of shift work and hourly pay8.
- Privacy& Comfort
A recent study found that one in ten women stop breastfeeding because they feel too uncomfortable doing it outside the privacy of their home2. Another survey among working mothers showed that more than 30% of them would value access to a dedicated room where they could express milk9.
A study among women staying on maternity wards found that feeding an infant or expressing milk in a calm, purpose-built environment with a home-like atmosphere facilitated breastfeeding because mothers felt more relaxed7.
#feedingourfuture can be found on Philips India’s Twitter handle@PhilipsIndia and Philips India’s Facebook page @philipsaventindia
Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswire)
