Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative

Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global program launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in 1991. The initiative aims to encourage and recognize hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of care for infant feeding and mother/baby bonding.

History

The BFHI was launched in response to the alarming drop in breastfeeding rates worldwide during the 1970s and 1980s. The initiative was designed to promote and support breastfeeding, which is recognized as the optimal method of infant feeding for the first six months of life.

Goals

The primary goal of the BFHI is to encourage hospitals to implement the "Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding" and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. The ten steps are evidence-based practices that have been shown to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration.

Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding

The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding are:

1. Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
2. Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
3. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
4. Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
5. Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
6. Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast-milk, unless medically indicated.
7. Practice rooming in - allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
8. Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
9. Give no artificial teats or pacifiers to breastfeeding infants.
10. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.

Impact

Studies have shown that hospitals that achieve Baby-Friendly status have higher breastfeeding initiation rates, and more mothers are still breastfeeding at six months postpartum.

Criticisms

While the BFHI has been successful in many ways, it has also faced criticism. Some argue that the initiative is too rigid and does not take into account the individual needs and circumstances of each mother and baby.

See also

• Breastfeeding
• World Health Organization
• United Nations Children's Fund