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When babies do not feed directly from their mothers' breasts during the first six months after birth, it puts them at higher risk of contracting a number of diseases most significantly, diarrhoea, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Diarrhoea, according to the WHO, is the leading cause of death among infants in developing countries and Kenya is no exception. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life but, sadly, according to United Nations Children's Emergency Funds (UNICEF), no single country in the world fully meets recommendation standards.
UNICEF data shows that diarrhoea kills around 525,000 children under five years every year. This translates to more than 1,300 infants dying each day, with a lack of exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months cited as the main cause.
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