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To successfully feed an infant on non-human milk or formula,
the following things are needed:
- Clean water.
- Milk or formula.
- Money to buy the milk or formula.
- A way to safely store the milk or formula.
- Containers for the milk or formula.
- Effective cleaning methods for the containers.
The poster below used in a Peruvian hospital encourages mothers to
exclusively breastfeed their babies due to the increased risk of
diarrhea due to contamination of bottles used in feeding
breast milk substitutes.
In the Western world, these requirements are usually met.
In a developing country, or a disaster situation,
some or all of these basic requirements can be
difficult, if not impossible to meet.
This makes breastfeeding far more critical to child health
in the developing world.
Other reasons to breastfeed that apply everywhere
have been listed in
The Innocenti Declaration.
Also, see the
Breastfeeding Benefits & Barriers
for a full discussion of the benefits of breastfeeding.
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