We have long known that breastmilk is the best food for babies and has many benefits for mothers as well. For decades, 170 countries have celebrated World Breastfeeding Week, an annual campaign to raise awareness about how important it is to defend, promote, and support exclusive breastfeeding during babies’ first six months, together with continued breastfeeding alongside … [Read more...] about Returning to work after becoming a mother: the challenge of breastfeeding
Community of Practice in Brazil: Prevention of Violence and Integration of Evidence into Early Childhood Policies
What topics are critical for children? How to build bridges between scientific knowledge and public policies for early childhood? What lessons have we learned and what challenges lie ahead? These questions were addressed during the third workshop of the Community of Practice in Early Childhood Development (ECD), which focused on childhood policies in Brazil and on finding … [Read more...] about Community of Practice in Brazil: Prevention of Violence and Integration of Evidence into Early Childhood Policies
Balancing Scale and Quality: Insights from a Meta-Analysis on Early Childhood Development Programs
Early childhood development (ECD) programs play a crucial role in promoting children’s cognition and language. Many programs include home visitors or groups who work with parents and young children through play activities that not only build children’s language and cognitive skills, but also engage children and parents together to experience the joy of playing and learning … [Read more...] about Balancing Scale and Quality: Insights from a Meta-Analysis on Early Childhood Development Programs
Using technology to support mothers and babies during and after pregnancy
To create a good environment for children’s development, a key early step is giving women and their families well-timed information, resources, and support during and after pregnancy. Amid a surge of innovations in pregnancy and postnatal care, we can make use of technology and other tools to make sure mothers and their babies are as healthy as possible. Information and … [Read more...] about Using technology to support mothers and babies during and after pregnancy
The tender hour: skin-to-skin contact provides the best start to life
Imagine arriving at an unknown place, a strange planet, alone, with no familiar voice and no one to guide you. At that critical moment, your survival would be at stake. But this is how a baby’s life begins outside the mother's womb. The newborn experiences an unknown external world for the first time, and that’s why his or her basic need for skin-to-skin contact with the mother … [Read more...] about The tender hour: skin-to-skin contact provides the best start to life