Increasing optimal breastfeeding practices could save an estimated 1.5 million infant lives annually. Up to 55 percent of infant deaths from diarrheal disease and acute respiratory infections may result from inappropriate feeding practices. Optimal feeding for sustained child health and growth includes initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour of life, exclusive breastfeeding for six months, timely complementary feeding with appropriate foods, and continued breastfeeding for two years and beyond.

From 1996-2006, USAID, through the LINKAGES Project, supported a comprehensive program intended to mainstream optimal breastfeeding practices in the community and throughout the health care delivery system. LINKAGES helped strengthen and expand the infant and young child feeding components of other programs such as child survival, reproductive health, nutrition, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. LINKAGES provided technical updates to keep local and international partners current on the art and science of optimal infant feeding, engaged in evidence-based advocacy of the health and economic benefits of breastfeeding, and participated in national and global initiatives to advance policies that support breastfeeding women.

Related Publications and Materials

Facts for Feeding

• Birth, Initiation of Breastfeeding, and the First Seven Days after Birth View Publication
• Breastmilk: A Critical Source of Vitamin A for Infants and Young Children View Publication
• Feeding Low Birthweight Babies View Publication
• Recommended Practices to Improve Infant Nutrition during the First Six Months View Publication

Frequently Asked Questions

• Breastfeeding and HIV/AIDS View Publication
• Breastfeeding and Maternal Nutrition View Publication
• Exclusive Breastfeeding: The Only Water Source Young Infants Need View Publication
• Mother-to-Mother Support for Breastfeeding View Publication

Technical Papers

• Celebrating Innocenti 1990-2005: Achievements, Challenges and Future Imperatives View Publication
• Community-Based Strategies for Breastfeeding Promotion and Support in Developing Countries View Publication
• Comparative Analysis of Cost and Effectiveness of LINKAGES Infant and Young Child Feeding Programs in Ghana, Madagascar, and Zambia View Publication
• Improving Breastfeeding Behaviors: Evidence from Two Decades of Intervention Research View Publication
• Opportunities for African Newborns: Nutrition and Breastfeeding Promotion View Publication
• Quantifying the Benefits of Breastfeeding: A Summary of the Evidence View Publication
• Recommended Feeding and Dietary Practices to Improve Infant and Maternal Nutrition View Publication

Tools

• A Guide for Calculating the Benefits of Breastfeeding (BOB) View Publication
• A Policy Analysis Tool for Calculating the Health, Child Spacing, and Economic Benefits of Breastfeeding (BOB) (This is an interactive Microsoft Excel file) View Spreadsheet

Peer-Reviewed Publications

• Aguayo VM, Ross JS, Kanon S, Ouedraogo AN. Monitoring compliance with the international code of marketing of breastmilk substitutes in West Africa: Findings from a survey in Togo and Burkina Faso. British Medical Journal 2003; 326:127-32.
  View Publication
  
  
• Aguayo VM, Adou. Nutrition in Côte d'Ivoire: A call to action (in French). African Journal of Food and Nutritional Sciences; July 2002.
  View Publication
  
  
• Aguayo VM, Ross J. The monetary value of human milk in francophone West Africa: A PROFILES analysis for nutrition policy communication. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 2002;23(2).
  View Publication
  
  
• Aguayo VM, Ross J, Torrez A, Saunero R, Johnston R. The monetary value of breastmilk in Bolivia (in Spanish). Pan American Journal of Public Heath 2001; October.
  View Publication
  
  
• Dearden K, Altaye M, de Maza I, de Oliva M, Stone-Jimenez M, Morrow AL, Burkhalter BR. Determinants of optimal breastfeeding in peri-urban Guatemala City, Guatemala. Pan American Journal of Public Health 2002;12(3):185-192.
  View Publication
  
  
• Dearden K, Altaye M, de Maza I, de Oliva M, Stone-Jimenez M, Burkhalter BR, Morrow AL The impact of mother-to-mother support on optimal breastfeeding: A controlled community intervention trial in peri-urban Guatemala City, Guatemala. Pan American Journal of Public Health 2002;12(3):193-201.
  View Publication
  
  
• Dearden KA, Quan LN, Do M, Marsh DR, Pachãn H, Schroeder DG, Tran TL. Work outside the home is the primary barrier to exclusive breastfeeding in rural Vietnam: Insights from mothers who exclusively breastfed and worked. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 2002;23(4) (supplement):101-108.
  View Publication
  
  
• Huffman SL, Zehner ER, Victora C. Can improvements in breast-feeding practices reduce neonatal mortality in developing countries? Midwifery 2001; 17(2)80-92.
  View Abstract
  
  

• Quinn VJ, Guyon AB, Schubert JW, Stone-Jiménez M, Hainsworth MD, Martin LH. Improving Breastfeeding Practices on a Broad Scale at the Community Level: Success Stories From Africa and Latin America. Journal of Human Lactation 2005; 345-54.
  View Publication
  
  
• Ross J, Harvey P. Contribution of breastfeeding to vitamin A nutrition of infants: A simulation model. Bulletin of World Health Organization 2003; 81:80-86.
  View Publication
  
  
• Schubert JW, Martin LH. Seeing is believing: Mobilizing Community Support for Breastfeeeding in Ghana. nutrition 2006; (2); 5-7.
  View Publication