Infant Young Child Nutrition Conference Outcomes

The 2nd Annual Conference IYCNCON 2012 on Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices (IYCF) was held on August 5, 2012 at New Delhi and was attended by over 200 eminent Pediatricians, Super specialists , Obstetricians, Nutritionists  and Epidemiologists . The proceedings involved a very comprehensive coverage of all the practical issues related to Infant and Young Child Feeding. The Delegates included participants from distant states like Tripura and Manipur and states where under nutrition was rampant such as Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.   

Following were the conclusions:

1. There is emerging evidence that preterm babies need an aggressive nutrition policy to prevent extra uterine growth retardation and both enteral and parental nutrition may be required to meet the recommended dietary allowances of protein, vitamin D and minerals namely zinc and iron.
2. The first two years are very crucial for optimal infant growth which at this age is mainly nutritional dependent. For this we need to promote IYCF (Infant Young Child Feeding) in the community. This will require training of grass root level workers in good IYCF Practices.
3. Breast milk is the best and all efforts should be done to help the mother exclusively breast feed her baby till six months. Both undergraduate and post graduate doctors should be trained in theory and skills related to good IYCF practices. This should be an essential part of the curriculum so that our children, the future citizens of India are healthy and translates to a productive community.
4. Mother- and child-friendly clinics with emphasis on practicing the 10 steps to successful breastfeeding put forth by UNICEF and WHO are a step to further enhance the infant and child nutrition in our country and need to be established by Govt., NGOs and Public sector organizations.
5. True lactation failure is very rare phenomena.
6. Early lactation support is crucial for establishing successful lactation in all mothers. Lactation support focuses on three clinical determents of exclusive breast feeding: Establishment of robust milk supply; Effective attachment- by skill and maternal confidence- by counseling.     

10 steps to successful breastfeeding

Every facility providing maternity services and care for newborn infants should

• Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
• Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
• Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
• Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within half an hour of birth.
• Show mothers how to breastfeed, and how to maintain lactation even if they should be separated from their infants.
• Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.
• Practice rooming-in i.e. allow mothers and infants to remain together - 24 hours a day.
• Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
• Give no artificial teats or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants.
• Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.