Skin-to-skin contact along with suckling at the breast stimulate the mother’s production of breastmilk, including colostrum, also called the baby’s ‘first vaccine’, which is extremely rich in nutrients and antibodies.
1592
“能否尽早开始母乳喂养，至关重要。
“When it comes to the start of breastfeeding, timing is everything.
1593
在许多国家，它甚至可能攸关新生儿的生存。”
In many countries, it can even be a matter of life or death,” says Henrietta H. Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.
1594
联合国儿童基金会执行主任亨丽埃塔·福尔 说。
“Yet each year, millions of newborns miss out on the benefits of early breastfeeding and the reasons – all too often – are things we can change.
1595
“然而，每年都有数以千万计的新生儿错失早开奶的良机，而背后的原因往往都能够避免。
Mothers simply don’t receive enough support to breastfeed within those crucial minutes after birth, even from medical personnel at health facilities.”
Breastfeeding rates within the first hour after birth are highest in Eastern and Southern Africa (65%) and lowest in East Asia and the Pacific (32%), the report says.
1597
在布隆迪、斯里兰卡和瓦努阿图，近九成新生儿能够在出生后一小时内能得到母乳喂养。
Nearly 9 in 10 babies born in Burundi, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu are breastfedwithin the first hour.
1598
而阿塞拜疆、乍得和黑山的这一比例仅为 20% 。
By contrast, only two in 10 babies born in Azerbaijan, Chad and Montenegro do so.
“Breastfeeding gives children the best possible start in life,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
1600
无论是家庭成员、卫生工作者、雇主，还是政府，都应该立即行动起来。”
“We must urgently scale up support to mothers – be it from family members, health care workers, employers and governments, so they can give their children the start they deserve.”