Authored by: Sophie Bochaberi
Breast milk is the best nutrition for every baby, including those who are small or sick. It helps babies grow, strengthens their immune system, supports healthy brain development, and lowers the risk of life-threatening conditions such as sepsis.
For most parents, breastfeeding is the first expression of nourishment and love. A healthy newborn lets out a loud cry, is placed on the mother’s chest, and instinctively begins searching for the mother’s breast until it finds it and begins feeding. Within the first hour of life, the breastfeeding baby enjoys the nourishment and protection that breast milk provides. For many newborn babies, they instinctively know how to suck, swallow, and breathe in rhythm. They wake up when they’re hungry, feed often, and grow stronger. It looks effortless.
For many families, though, their first feed looks different. Imagine a baby born eight weeks too soon. Instead of crying loudly, they struggle to breathe. Instead of searching for the breast, they require medical intervention. Their body is so tiny that even the simple act of sucking, swallowing, and breathing simultaneously is difficult. The mother has breast milk, but the baby is not ready.
This does not mean the feeding journey has to stop. Healthcare professionals can support families during these challenges in the following ways:
Healthcare professionals learn to support small and sick newborns
As vulnerable small and sick newborns gain strength, healthcare professionals can work with families to ensure babies continue to receive the nutrition they need. Every healthcare professional supporting these babies needs the knowledge, skills, and confidence to provide the right care at the right time. That is why NEST360, in partnership with the World Continuing Education Alliance (WCEA), is launching a country-specific, Continuing Professional Development (CPD)-accredited, self-paced online Feeding Module this World Breastfeeding Week.
The course provides up-to-date nutritional support, knowledge, and skills tailored for all staff, including students. It translates evidence-based best practices into practical skills that can be used immediately at the bedside.
Participants will learn how to:
- Safely administer intravenous fluids, such as 10% dextrose, using syringe pumps when clinically indicated.
- Support mothers in expressing, storing, and safely using breast milk.
- Insert and use gastric feeding tubes step by step.
- Safely provide cup feeding for babies who cannot breastfeed directly.
- Help small and sick newborns progress safely toward breastfeeding as soon as possible.
Every part of the course aims to help babies receive the nutrition they need while supporting the journey towards breastfeeding.
A baby’s feeding journey doesn’t happen in isolation. It is part of a bigger journey to survival. When mothers and babies are kept together through Zero Separation, mothers can express milk, practice breastfeeding, and respond to their baby’s needs from the very beginning.
Breastfeeding can be combined with Kangaroo Mother Care, which keeps babies warm through skin-to-skin contact and encourages frequent feeding. These simple, evidence-based practices help small and sick newborns grow stronger every day.
By strengthening healthcare workers’ skills in nutritional support, the WCEA Feeding Module complements life-saving interventions, ensuring every fragile newborn receives not just the right nutrition but also the warmth, closeness, and care they need to survive and thrive.
To access the course, visit the WCEA website at https://wcea.education/ and log in to the Learning Management System (LMS) if you are registered on the platform. If you are not registered on WCEA, register using this link: https://wcea.education/register/
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