Yemeni children are subject to danger mainly because of mothers abandoning breast-feeding and resorting to other means of feeding.

According to a scientific study released on the 15th anniversary of the Innocent Declaration on the Protection, and Promotion in Geneva, six million lives a year are being saved by exclusive breastfeeding, and global breastfeeding rates have risen by at least 15 percent since 1990s.

Experts proved that women who practice breastfeeding feel a strong desire to hold their babies as it builds a link between mother and baby. "Breastfeeding promotes the linking between mothers and babies in a way that bottle-feeding cannot," said 28 year old and a female nurse Intesar Ahmed. "When a mother breastfeeds her children, in the future the children will have a closer bond to the mother than if the child was bottle fed."

A consultant and gynecologist at Saudi German Hospital Dr. Hadeel Al-Barghothi said that breastfeeding is one of the natural and helpful acts a mother can do for her child. It is through which health benefits pass from the mother to the  child. She also hinted that the exclusive nutrients in mother's milk prevents a number of childhood diseases. Thus, the benefits are countless as there is no other single action by which a mother can impact the present and future health of her baby.

Al-Bargghothi continued that breastfeeding is very important for the newborn baby in the first six months as the baby can take all the elements from the mother's blood through the milk, maintaining that the newborn baby can develop resistance against all diseases that mother has during her lifetime.

Al-Bargghothi further explained that breastfeeding without any other food during the first six months reduces the possibility of food contamination due to spoiled water or malnutrition as a result of using cow's milk with low quality. She pointed out that the baby can get nutrition benefit from all kinds of food the mother eats. She added that breastfeeding benefits mothers as well by stimulating the womb contractions.

Traditionally breast-feeding beliefs and practices are best understood within the wider environment in Yemeni society. The Quran defines the value of breastfeeding for both women and children.

Breastfeeding remains the only natural inclusive and complex nutrition for newborn babies. It is a method for enhancing the health for infants and for lifetime.

American researchers discovered that malnutrition during the first months of a child age leads to a drop in the child's smartness. They found as well that malnutrition produces hostile tendency that accompanies bottle-fed children during their lifetime.

Mothers of newborn babies find breastfeeding a method for family planning as chances of breast-feeding mothers getting pregnant are slim, especially when they confine their children to breast-feeding.

Regarding bottle-fed infants, using milk that lacks nutrition elements doubles the risk of severe malnutrition. "For families with limited income, they concentrate on the size of the tin rather than the quality of milk. Also the daily intake rates are more strongly related to their income," said a 33 year old and supermarket owner Abdul Wali Ahmed Saleh.

Many mothers interviewed in rural areas revealed that powdered whole-fat milk products are the most consumed type for bottled-fed infants, hinting they do not know anything about special milk meant for infants." I don't know that there is special infants' milk", said a 35 village resident and mother of five children Jameelah Hasan, stressing that constant pregnancy is the key factor for which they resorts to bottle-feeding.

A recent study showed that parents who carried their babies in arms when breastfeeding found a 43 percent reduction in crying and fussing over babies who were not carried as much. Other studies indicate that mortality rate among breastfed infants is lower than their bottle-fed counterparts because they are always touched and tenderly held by their mothers.

It is estimated that Yemeni healthcare costs could be reduced by millions per year if mothers use breastfeeding during the first six months of their babies’ lives. Also millions could be saved due to infant diarrhea, ear infections and vomiting which are the most common diseases among children under one year of age.