---
title: "India Struggles to Sustain Breastfeeding Gains as NFHS-6 Reveals Sharp National Decline"
url: https://projectchintan.com/article/india-struggles-to-sustain-breastfeeding-gains-as-nfhs-6-reveals-sharp-national--am3uf
publisher: Project Chintan
author: Project Chintan Newsroom
section: Technology
published: 2026-08-02T13:30:25.000Z
modified: 2026-08-02T18:01:05.264Z
language: en-IN
---

# India Struggles to Sustain Breastfeeding Gains as NFHS-6 Reveals Sharp National Decline

Recent data from the National Family Health Survey shows exclusive breastfeeding rates for infants have plummeted to 55.8%, reversing years of progress. While hospital births and postnatal care coverage reached record highs, nutritional indicators for infants suffered significant setbacks.

## Key takeaways

- Exclusive breastfeeding rates for infants under six months fell from 63.7% in NFHS-5 to 55.8% in NFHS-6, reversing a decade of progress.
- Major population centers like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh saw sharp declines, dragging down the national average significantly.
- C-section rates rose sharply to 27.2% nationally, a trend linked to delayed breastfeeding initiation and potential nutritional challenges.
- Despite the decline in nutrition, institutional deliveries and postnatal check-up coverage reached record highs of 90.6% and 82.8% respectively.
- States with the most significant gains in previous years faced the steepest losses, indicating that breastfeeding improvements remain fragile.

## The Divergence in Maternal Care and Infant Nutrition

India’s latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6, 2023–24) presents a stark paradox in the country’s healthcare landscape. While efforts to institutionalize childbirth have largely succeeded, with hospital deliveries climbing to 90.6% and postnatal check-ups within 48 hours reaching 82.8%, infant nutrition has taken a massive step backward. The rate of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for infants under six months has dropped to 55.8%. This downturn effectively wipes out the gains seen in NFHS-5, which had reached 63.7%, returning the nation to levels last seen nearly a decade ago in NFHS-4.

### Analyzing the Pandemic Data Anomaly

Researchers initially scrutinized whether the timing of the previous survey, NFHS-5, produced an artificial spike due to pandemic-related disruptions. That survey was split into two phases: one completed before March 2020 and one delayed by lockdowns. However, the data refutes the theory of a survey artifact. Improvements were actually more pronounced in states where fieldwork was interrupted by the pandemic, showing a 10.5 percentage point increase compared to a mere 1.6 point rise in pre-pandemic states. This suggests that the current decline is a genuine behavioral shift occurring after 2021 rather than a statistical correction.

## Geographic Volatility and the C-Section Factor

The decline is not uniform across India, but heavy losses in high-population states have impacted the national average significantly. Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan recorded the steepest drops, with Haryana falling by 28.3 percentage points. Conversely, Sikkim, Kerala, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands showed resilience, with Sikkim leading the improvements at 21.3 points. A troubling statistical trend emerged: states that saw the highest gains during the NFHS-5 cycle suffered the most aggressive reversals in NFHS-6, suggesting that these improvements were fragile and lacked deep-rooted systemic support.
- C-Section Impact: National cesarean delivery rates surged from 17.2% to 27.2%. Research indicates that surgical births often delay the initiation of breastfeeding without robust clinical intervention.
- Workforce Pressure: The post-lockdown economic recovery may have pushed women in the informal sector back to work prematurely, limiting their ability to maintain exclusive breastfeeding without maternity benefits.
- Service Gaps: While hospitals have resumed normal operations, specialized services like lactation counseling and early skin-to-skin contact have not fully recovered to pre-pandemic standards.

The current aggregated data highlights a clear crisis in infant nutrition but leaves questions about the exact causality. While the restoration of hospital access is visible, the qualitative support required to sustain breastfeeding in the critical first six months of life appears to be failing, particularly in the wake of rising surgical intervention during birth.

Source: The Hindu — Sci-Tech

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Canonical: https://projectchintan.com/article/india-struggles-to-sustain-breastfeeding-gains-as-nfhs-6-reveals-sharp-national--am3uf
Reported from: The Hindu — Sci-Tech