How breast milk programmes a baby’s long-term health and why India must improve its

Lactation, or the process of making breast milk, starts months before a pregnant woman gives birth. The body prepares the first milk, a thick, yellow colostrum—often called ‘liquid gold’ —for the baby to drink soon after birth.

A day or two after delivery is actually when the milk production intensifies. The World Health Organization emphasises feeding colostrum in the ‘golden hour’, the first 60 minutes after birth, discourages pre-lacteal feeds (liquids or non-breast milk foods before breastfeeding onset), and recommends exclusive.

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• However, India’s National Family Health Survey-6 reveals that only 55.8% of babies under six months of age were exclusively breastfed in 2023–24.

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