The IYCN Project promotes low-cost measures for improving nutrition

Despite the benefits of nutrition practices that save lives and prevent the transmission of HIV, many communities are not aware of them or do not have access to programs that can help. Mothers urgently need education and support to overcome barriers and use good nutrition practices.

Best practices

The IYCN Project promotes low-cost measures for improving nutrition during that critical early window, from birth to two years of age:

• Maternal nutrition. A healthy life begins during pregnancy, when a fetus depends on the mother for adequate nutrients. We encourage mothers to increase the quality and diversity of their diets and promote the use of micronutrient supplements, when needed, during pregnancy and lactation.
• Breastfeeding practices. Breast milk has all the nutrients and antibodies that a baby needs to thrive during the first six months of life and is safe, hygienic, and readily available at no cost. We promote exclusive breastfeeding (no other foods or liquids, including water) from immediately after birth through the first six months as the best way to ensure proper nutrition, healthy growth, and protection from infection.
• Complementary feeding practices. From 6 to 24 months of age, children need complementary foods (in addition to breast milk) to ensure that they continue to grow and thrive. We encourage mothers to give their children appropriate amounts of high-quality, hygienically prepared complementary foods and help them to respond to the changing nutritional requirements of the growing child.
• Safe feeding practices during and after illness. Children need additional food and fluids during and after illness, when they are vulnerable to dehydration and weight loss. We encourage mothers to protect their children by giving them additional breast milk if they are younger than six months, or breastmilk, food, and other fluids if they are older.

Breastfeeding and HIV

The right breastfeeding practices can not only improve nutrition, they also can reduce the risk that children of HIV-infected mothers will become infected. HIV can be transmitted in breast milk—and yet many mothers in poor countries cannot sustain proper nutrition for their infants unless they breastfeed. The IYCN Project helps breastfeeding, HIV-infected mothers reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their infants—and increase the babies’ chances of survival—by offering safer breastfeeding techniques that keep children both healthy and safe.

Feeding exclusively with commercial infant formula is the best option for babies of HIV-positive mothers who have the resources, ability, and support to ensure uninterrupted and safe infant formula. But for many mothers in poor countries, exclusive replacement feeding is not affordable or safe. For HIV-infected mothers who cannot safely feed their infants formula only, the recommendation is exclusive breastfeeding—which actually carries a lower risk of HIV transmission than a mix of breastfeeding and other foods or fluids.

Although internationally accepted, these standards aren’t well known in the developing world, and mothers get mixed messages from health workers and other trusted sources. In addition, choosing the best option for feeding requires a mother to weigh the risks posed by both breastfeeding and formula feeding. Many health workers lack the training needed to communicate these hazards and guide a mother through the decision-making process. IYCN brings together national stakeholders to create consensus on national policies and guidelines. Then we translate guidelines into training tools and curricula for health workers and community volunteers. Finally, support groups promoted by IYCN provide mothers with peer assistance that can help them sustain their feeding choices and protect their child from infection.

More information

The IYCN website contains even more up-to-date information on these topics—along with a collection of high-quality training materials, publications, web links, and other helpful resources.