Cambodia has experienced a surge in women who are exclusively breastfeeding their newborns for the first six month, leading to a lowering of infant mortality, health officials say.
During a Unicef and World Health Organization conference in Manila earlier this month, Cambodia was held up as an example to other countries in the region where women are relying more on formula, to the detriment of their babies.
Infant mortality in Cambodia, where more women were breastfeeding as a result of information campaigns, is decreasing, said Dr. Chan Ketsana, a team leader at the organization Reproductive and Child Health Alliance.
Cambodia's infants still face difficulties, Chan Ketsana said, especially those born to uneducated mothers or born without assistant at delivery.
Breastfeeding during the first six months led to a decrease of infant mortality from 95 per 1,000 to 65 per 1,000 from 2000 to 2005, she said.