Filipinas aim for breast-fed best

Only 16% of Filipinas breast-feed their children, despite the benefits

More than 3,000 mothers in the Philippines have made a bid to break the Guinness World Record for simultaneous breast-feeding.

A total of 3,738 mothers simultaneously breast-fed their babies for at least a minute, said Manila mayor Lito Atienza.

The record is currently held by the City of Berkeley, California, where 1,135 mothers simultaneous breast-fed for a minute in August 2002.

The Manila event was organised to raise public awareness of breast-feeding.

The new claim on the record has yet to be confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records but Unicef Philippines spokesman Dale Rutstein told the French news agency AFP that he was "confident" it had been broken.

"What we're planning to do is incite awareness to put back the pride in breast-feeding and the respect we deserve because we commit ourselves to our children," said Dr Elvira Esguerra, director of the advocacy group, Children for Breast-feeding.

Organisers of Thursday's event said rates of breast-feeding had dropped dramatically in the Philippines. Only 16% of Filipina mothers breast-feed their children for the first six months of their lives, according to local health authorities.

Unicef says breast-feeding can help curb malnutrition in children and boost their immune system. It is also far cheaper than bottle-feeding.