Others are left to count the cost. One needless infant death occurs every 30 seconds . Millions more babies become seriously ill and the cost of baby milks impoverishes people who are already poor, affecting whole families. The water mixed with baby milk powder can be unsafe and it is often impossible in poor conditions to keep bottles and teats sterile. Bottle feeding under such circumstances can lead to infections causing diarrhoea, the biggest killer of children worldwide.
Baby milk is also very expensive, often costing more than half the entire family income.
This means that bottle feeding will contribute to family malnutrition. Furthermore, poor mothers trying to make the milk go further sometimes overdilute the powder, and the baby may not then receive the nutrition he or she needs. Bottle baby disease is the name given to the deadly combination of diarrhoea, dehydration and malnutrition which is the result of unsafe bottle feeding. Breastfeeding is free, safe and protects against infection. It is extremely rare for a woman to be physically unable to breastfeed.