Breastfeeding is a natural and normal way of feeding newborns and infants. Breast milk contains the most abundant protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, and is easy to digest. It is specially produced for newborns.

​​Breast milk can help the baby fight disease. After birth, the first milk secreted by the breast is called colostrum. It helps stop harmful bacteria that may make your baby sick. Colostrum does this by covering the baby's digestive system, leaving bacteria nowhere to grow. This protection is even more important if the baby is born prematurely.

Breastfeeding helps reduce the chance of your baby to:

• Have diarrhea
• Have ear infections or lung infections
• Die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• Be overweight or obese

Optimal breastfeeding is essential, saving the lives of more than 820,000 children under the age of five each year. WHO and UNICEF recommend:

• Start breastfeeding one hour after delivery;
• Exclusive breastfeeding should be performed for the first 6 months of life;
• When the baby is 6 months of age, add supplementary (solid) food with sufficient nutrition and safety, and continue breastfeeding until the age of two or more.

However, many infants and young children are not optimally fed. For example, worldwide, between 2007 and 2014, only about 36% of infants under the age of six months were exclusively breastfed.

The recommendations have been revised to address the needs of babies born to HIV-infected mothers. Now, antiretroviral drugs allow these babies to be exclusively breastfed for up to six months and continue breastfeeding for at least 12 months, thereby greatly reducing the risk of HIV transmission.