Amsterdam, 5 July 2022 – The past years we have been expanding our Reproductive-, Maternal-, Newborn-, and Child-Health (RMNCH) portfolio. The latest additions to the portfolio are related to breastfeeding and are meant to support and assist mothers when their children have difficulty with latching on to the nipple or have other problems related to feeding.

WHO has been giving more attention to the importance of breastfeeding in the past years, calling it “one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival”, and IDA Foundation acknowledges the value of good nutrition for newborns. Ideally all newborns should be fed breastmilk but there are challenges to overcome. Several millions of babies born in Africa and South Asia can’t breastfeed due to prematurity or craniofacial anomalies like cleft lip or palate. We are happy to add these new devices and to support these children and their mothers.

Two additions to the portfolio

We have added a manual breast pump, which allows mothers to express milk anywhere while not being dependent on electricity. This pump serves as a trustworthy alternative during power cuts and in low-resource settings. Besides the manual breast pump, we also added the NIFTY feeding cup. This cup is designed and developed by several collaborating institutions, being the University of Washington, Seattle Children’s Hospital, PATH, and Laerdal Global Health. NIFTY cup is simple to use, easy to clean and sterilise and also culturally appropriate. The shape of the cup is designed to allow the infant to control the pace of feeding, and is made of soft silicone material. Usually infants who are born preterm can have problems sucking, as their sucking reflex has not yet been fully developed, the NIFTY cup allows them to drink breastmilk at a pace and flow that each individual infant establishes. Mothers can express milk directly into the cup, which has clear millimeter feeding measurements so you know exactly how much your child has been drinking.

You can find these items in our Breastfeeding Supplies factsheet on our RMNCH page.