A quarter of children in Jordan under six months old rely solely on their mother’s milk.
69% of newborns are separated from their mothers after birth in private sector facilities, which hinders the initiation of breastfeeding.
Only 38% of children receive exclusive breastfeeding within the first two days after birth.
Breastfeeding is considered one of the most important health interventions with long-term impacts on the health of the child, mother, and society—particularly for low-income families whose income does not allow them to purchase imported, expensive infant formula, in addition to the costs of treating health conditions of children who are not fed their mother’s milk.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recommend exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of a child’s life, followed by the introduction of complementary foods while continuing breastfeeding up to two years or beyond.
Every year, the first week of August is celebrated worldwide as World Breastfeeding Week, during which various activities are implemented. The 2025 theme is: “Breastfeeding Support: Responsibility of the Health System and Society – as part of Healthy Beginnings, a Future Full of Hope”, aimed at strengthening breastfeeding support systems at both policy and community practice levels.
Scientific evidence confirms that breastfeeding is an investment with long-term health, economic, and social returns. Achieving national and international goals related to child and maternal health requires an integrated collaboration between the health system, the community, and families, providing a supportive environment for mothers to successfully practice breastfeeding.
Economic and Health Benefits of Breastfeeding
Economically, infant formula imposes a financial burden on Jordanian families, with an average cost of approximately 55 JOD per month, posing a particular challenge for low-income families. The World Bank notes that every 1 JOD invested in promoting breastfeeding yields an economic return of 35 JOD by reducing healthcare costs, lowering disease incidence, and improving long-term cognitive and productivity outcomes.
In terms of immunity and development, breast milk is the first vaccine, the optimal food, and the safest environment, providing all the nutrients needed for growth and development during the first six months. It also contains immune factors that reduce the risk of infectious and chronic diseases. For mothers, breastfeeding contributes to lowering the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, protecting against osteoporosis, and speeding postnatal recovery. Breastfeeding also delays the return of menstruation, providing a natural method of birth spacing (although its use in Jordan is very low, at only 0.4%).
Despite the importance of breastfeeding, the latest Jordanian statistics indicate that only 24% of children under six months rely on exclusive breastfeeding. Trends show a concerning decline over the last three decades, from 39% to 24%. These low rates are due to separating newborns from their mothers after birth in private hospitals and the mistaken belief that mothers who deliver via cesarean cannot breastfeed. There is also a need to investigate practices in some facilities where mothers are given samples of manufactured infant formula upon discharge from maternity wards.
These low rates reflect multiple challenges, most importantly the lack of supportive breastfeeding practices in maternity facilities—particularly after cesarean sections—and the non-compliance of all facilities with the “Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative” standards.
What needs to be done?
To improve breastfeeding practices in Jordan, comprehensive interventions are needed at both health policy and community practice levels. These include: enhancing the training of healthcare personnel on effective support practices for mothers before and after delivery, encouraging mothers to breastfeed and explaining its benefits for mother, child, and family, expanding the Baby-Friendly Hospital program to all governorates, strictly implementing the International Code prohibiting marketing of infant formula and misleading advertisements, while promoting counseling for mothers during pregnancy and childbirth, and encouraging immediate breastfeeding initiation by keeping newborns with their mothers right after birth, including after cesarean delivery.
