Giving Compass' Take:

• The Guardian details a new report that reveals the health risks posed to infants who aren't breastfed shortly after birth, emphasizing the need to expand natal counseling and awareness.

• How can aid and humanitarian organizations give support to new mothers, across different cultures? Much of the need may be in training healthcare professionals and pushing back against formula marketing.

• Here's why breastfeeding is next on the agenda for nutrition advocates.

Almost 60% of babies around the world are not breastfed within the first hour after their birth, putting them at risk of sickness and even death, a new report has revealed.

Current guidelines from the World Health Organization and Unicef recommend babies should be breastfed within an hour of their birth and fed only by breastfeeding until they are six months old.

Breastfeeding offers both mothers and babies a host of benefits. It reduces the risk of breast cancer in women, while the first breast milk contains nutrients and antibodies — important for keeping the child safe against disease. It is also linked to a lower risk of future obesity in children, while the skin-to-skin contact allows the infant to come into contact with microbes from the mother that help to develop their immune system.

The WHO and Unicef’s new report stresses that delays in breastfeeding can endanger babies.

“When breastfeeding is delayed after birth, the consequences can be life-threatening – and the longer newborns are left waiting, the greater the risk,” the authors write. “Improving breastfeeding practices could save the lives of more than 800,000 children under five every year, the vast majority of whom are under six months of age.”

Read the full article about babies at risk due to breastfeeding delay by Nicola Davis at theguardian.com.