Addressing a media briefing in Geneva, a spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Marixie Mercado, reported that, according to local health officials, the ongoing violence continued to impact infant care in Syrian hospitals, particularly among newborns who were increasingly affected by a lack of available incubators.

At the General Hospital in Damascus, Syria’s capital, Mercado said that out of 21 incubators only 14 were functioning despite a list of over 60 babies waiting to use the remaining accessible machines.

“Health workers said many babies had died because there were not enough incubators,” she told the press briefing.

“Yesterday, the Ministry of Health indicated to UNICEF that 400 incubators were needed across the country,” she continued, adding that overcrowding at the General Hospital was also affecting the children’s ward where 200 patients were waiting for access to 120 beds.

Mercado warned that the stress of the fighting was especially having a damaging effect on expectant mothers. Citing health workers, she stated that mothers were delivering earlier and that many were also miscarrying while hospitals were experiencing a two-fold increase in the number of Caesarean sections when compared with the same period last year.

At least 20,000 people, mostly civilians, have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 20 months ago. A further 2.5 million Syrians urgently need humanitarian aid, and over 340,000 have crossed the border to Syria’s neighbouring countries, according to UN estimates.

There had been expectations that the warring parties in Syria would agree to observe a ceasefire, starting last Friday, in observance of the Muslim religious holiday of Eid al-Adha, in the hope that it would help create an environment that would allow a political process to develop. That ceasefire, however, was not respected as violence continued across the war-torn country through the holiday weekend.

Mercado told the gathered journalists that while UNICEF had provided relief items to around 60,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), there was a shortage of school supplies, furniture and teachers for IDP children fleeing the violence.

She added that the UN agency was working to quickly bring in more supplies, including incubators and other winter gear, to cities such as Al-Raqqah and Tartous, as well as others.

Addressing the same news briefing, the spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Rupert Colville, told reporters that a circulated video showing apparent executions would be difficult to verify immediately and required further careful scrutiny.

He noted, however, that the video appeared to show a war crime and urged all parties to respect international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

“The people committing these crimes should be under no illusion that they will escape accountability as there is a lot of accumulated evidence,” Colville added.

According to the agency, evidence shows that exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life not only improves their future growth and educational achievement, but also significantly reduces national health costs and helps prevent chronic malnutrition.

As little as five per cent of all mothers breastfeed in Thailand, while around ten per cent do so in Viet Nam. In China, only 28 per cent of babies are breastfed.

“Mothers across the region face increasing demands on their time, often have to return to work early after childbirth, and may have limited opportunities to breastfeed or express their milk in the workplace,” said UNICEF’s Nutrition Advisor for East Asia and the Pacific, France Begin.

“At the same time, baby food companies are targeting the fast-growing economies in East Asia with aggressive marketing campaigns, persuading mothers to give up breastfeeding and purchase their products despite the drawbacks for their children,” she added.

UNICEF  calls on baby food companies to adhere to the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. The Code does not ban the sale of formulas, only the marketing practices that entice mothers to replace their breastmilk with commercial substitutes while it is working wiht businesses in the region to guarantee that women can enjoy the right to adequate maternity leave and nursing breaks. the agency said in a press release.

“When companies adhere to the Code of Marketing it will be easier for mothers to make an informed choice,” noted Ms. Begin. “No formula can substitute the importance of breastmilk for children’s survival, growth and development.