Bangladesh 2014

11.2 BREASTFEEDING AND COMPLEMENTARY FEEDING
Feeding practices play a pivotal role in determining the optimal growth and development of infants.
Poor breastfeeding and infant feeding practices have adverse consequences for the health and nutritional
status of children. These consequences, in turn, affect their mental and physical development. Breastfeeding
also affects mothers by physiologically suppressing the return of fertility, thereby lengthening the interval
between pregnancies.
UNICEF and WHO recommend that children be exclusively breastfed (that is, given no other liquid
or solid food or plain water) for the first six months and then should be given solid or semi-solid
complementary foods beginning in the seventh month of life. The standard indicator of exclusive
breastfeeding is the percentage of children under age 6 months who are exclusively breastfeeding. The
standard indicator of timely complementary feeding is the percentage of children age 6-8 months who receive
solid, semi-solid, or soft foods. WHO recommends that breastfeeding should continue through the second
year of life. Use of bottles with nipples is not recommended for feeding at any age (WHO 2008).
11.2.1 Initiation of Breastfeeding
Early initiation of breastfeeding is important for both the mother and the child. There are a number
of reasons to encourage early breastfeeding. Mothers benefit from early suckling because it stimulates
production of breast milk and facilitates the release of oxytocin, which helps to contract the uterus and reduce
postpartum blood loss. The first breast milk contains colostrum, which is highly nutritious and has antibodies
that protect the newborn from diseases. Early initiation of breastfeeding also encourages bonding between
the mother and her newborn.
The 2014 BDHS collected data on infant feeding for the youngest children under age 2 who were
living with their mother, using a 24-hour recall period. Table 11.2 presents the breastfeeding status of all
last-born children born in the two years preceding the survey, by background characteristics. The table shows
the percentage of children according to whether they were ever breastfed, when they started breastfeeding,
and whether they were fed anything other than breast milk before beginning breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is
almost universal in Bangladesh; 98 percent of last-born children who were born in the two years preceding
the survey were breastfed at some point in their life. There are no marked differences by background
characteristics in the proportion of children ever breastfed.
Overall, 51 percent of children are breastfed within one hour after birth, and 89 percent are breastfed
within one day. These results are for last-born children born in the two years preceding the survey. Table
11.2 indicates no marked differences in the timing of initial breastfeeding within one hour of birth by the sex
of the child. Rural children are more likely to be breastfed within one hour of birth compared with urban
children (53 percent and 45 percent, respectively). Notable variations can be seen by geographic division.
The proportion of children breastfed within one hour of birth is highest in Rangpur (60 percent) and lowest
in Khulna (39 percent).
The timing of initiation of breastfeeding varies by other background characteristics. Less likely to
begin breastfeeding within one hour of birth are children born in a health facility (38 percent), children
attended by a health professional at delivery (40 percent), children of mothers who completed secondary or
higher education (45 percent), and children from households in the highest wealth quintile (44 percent).
Similar patterns were also reported in the 2011 BDHS.
11.2.2 Prelacteal Breastfeeding
Prelacteal feeding is the practice of giving other liquids to a child during the first three days of life.
The practice of prelacteal feeding is discouraged because it limits the frequency of suckling by the infant
and exposes the child to the risk of gastrointestinal infection. Twenty-seven percent of Bangladeshi children
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