Health

Human milk (HM) is recognized for its safety, efficacy, availability and cost/effectiveness. Consequently, it is the best food for newborns, even if they are small, premature or sick.

Breastfeeding improves child survival, health and development.

HM has the potential to reduce morbidities and improve health, especially in those born extremely prematurely, as it contains bioactive substances with bactericidal, immunomodulatory, and gut maturation-inducing properties.

Applying emollient or moisturizing creams or any other product on the skin of newborns is not recommended.
At birth, human skin is covered with an acid mantle, which is key to maintaining the baby’s defenses. Although there is no scientific evidence about the harmful effects of emollients, no benefits have been demonstrated in their application.
Therefore, it is not recommended to apply emollients or other products on the skin. If in doubt, it is always advisable to ask your health care team.

Routine application of topical emollients is not recommended for the prevention of skin conditions in healthy full-term infants.
This recommendation was developed by the WHO Guidelines Development Group (GDG). The GDG agreed that there was insufficient evidence on the beneficial and harmful effects of routine application of topical emollients on healthy term newborns to prevent skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis, dry skin and others.

The primary responsibility for monitoring the implementation of the code rests with governments. Enforcement is most effective when this responsibility is shared among the main government agencies involved throughout the various stages of product commercialization.
- National legislation on the Code should indicate which government agencies are in charge of overseeing this and how it should be done.
- Manufacturers and vendors of human milk substitutes should monitor their own marketing practices at all levels.

Early childhood (from birth to 8 years of age) is key to achieving the maximum development of the human being. This stage comprises the most sensitive period for brain development and extends from pregnancy (during organogenesis), until 3 years after birth, when the greatest number of neural connections and circuits are formed and the maturation of the central nervous system gets completed.

Early childhood (birth to 8 years of age) is key to achieving a human being’s maximum developmental potential. This stage comprises the most sensitive period for brain development. This is the time of life when children's developmental potential is most susceptible to environmental stimuli and early experiences, which influence learning, health, behavior and, in the long term, adult social relationships and well-being.

In gestations with high risk of prematurity or potentially needing admission to the Neonatal Care Unit, prenatal admission is an opportunity for communication with the pregnant women.
Evidence-based counseling about the benefits of human milk feeding is a public health intervention that improves breastfeeding rates. Repeated prenatal informational interviews are more effective than isolated interventions and should be documented in the medical record.

Banked human milk (BHM) is the alternative of choice for feeding preterm infants (PTNB) as it provides the opportunity for them to receive a diet consisting of exclusive human milk when the milk of the baby’s own mother is unavailable, scarce or contraindicated.
In terms of its benefits, BHM is somewhat inferior to the mother's own, but superior to artificial formula.

Nutritional interventions are important in the development of young children. However, they are not enough on their own. They must be accompanied by responsive care in the context of early learning opportunities.
A paradigmatic example of adequate nutrition and responsive care is the feeding of human milk on demand to newborns and infants.

The definition of the word “substitute” implies something that has properties similar to those of another thing and may replace it with a lesser degree of quality, or an imitation of lesser quality than the original.
A human milk substitute is any food marketed as a partial or total substitute for breast milk, and the elements for its administration, whether or not they are suitable for that purpose.
The International Code of Marketing of Human Milk Substitutes applies to marketing strategies for the following milk substitute products: