By Maritza Gutiérrez

As every year since 1990, Breastfeeding Week, an initiative of the World Alliance for Action on Breastfeeding, is celebrated around the world from August 1 to 7. Since the beginning, 120 countries have joined in favor of mother and child.

Promoted by the WHO, it promotes breastfeeding as one of the fundamental actions in the mother-child relationship and its implications for public health and the community.

This year the international theme has focused on breastfeeding and work, providing a strategic opportunity to defend the essential maternity rights that support breastfeeding: in Cuba those rights are guaranteed.

According to a 2019 survey, in Cuba the early initiation of breastfeeding, that is, on the first day of birth is 92.5%; predominant breastfeeding before 6 months is 54.3%; up to the first year is 35.3% and up to two years is 19.2%.

To improve these indicators, Cuba is promoting initiatives in conjunction with Unicef, including breastfeeding rooms.

Initiatives such as the children's huts in workplaces help to promote breastfeeding in Cuba, where, according to experts, exclusive breastfeeding has been lost over the years and is now receiving a strong boost through promotional actions and communication campaigns.

Advocating best practices for supporting breastfeeding mothers in the workplace has prompted the worldwide celebration of Breastfeeding Week, which began on August 1 and ends on August 7.

For Cuba, it has been a new opportunity to promote actions that can be taken to help ensure that breastfeeding works successfully for all working women.