 |
What is the WHO/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Initiative (BFI)?
“Imagine that the world had invented a new ‘dream product’ to feed and
immunize everyone born on earth. Imagine also that is was available
everywhere required no storage or delivery – and helped mothers to plan
their families and reduce the risk of cancer. Then imagine that the world
refused to use it. Towards the end of this last century of unprecedented
discovery and invention this scenario is not alas a fiction. The ‘dream
product’ is human breastmilk and is available to us all at birth and yet we
are not using it” UNICEF 1991
The Baby-Friendly Initiative is an international initiative established by
WHO/UNICEF in 1991 to promote, protect, and support the initiation and
continuation of breastfeeding. This program encourages and recognizes
hospitals and maternity facilities that offer an optimal level of care for
mothers and infants. A Baby-Friendlyhospital/maternity facility focuses on
the needs of the newborns and empowers mothers to give their infant the best
possible start in life. In practical terms, a Baby-Friendly
hospital/maternity facility encourages and helps women to successfully
initiate and continue to breastfeed their babies, and will receive special
recognition for having done so. Since the inception of the program, over
18,000 hospitals worldwide have received the Baby–Friendly designation.
"Breastfeeding requires more than the commitment on the part of one woman
and her infant. Breastfeeding is an endangered practice that requires the
support of everyone in society to nurture it back to its full, potent
strength. It requires a commitment on part of health care institutions,
decision makers, governments and individuals in the community to ensure a
totally baby-friendly environment." UNICEF
Industrialized countries such as Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland,
Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United
Kingdom, and the United States have hospitals officially designated as Baby
Friendly. There are now over 18,000 designated BFI facilities around the
world. Sweden is currently on reassessment of all hospital maternity centres.
In order to achieve the WHO/UNICEF Baby-Friendly designation, all providers
in every hospital and maternity facility will:
- Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all
health care staff.
- Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
- Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of
breastfeeding.
- Help mothers to initiate breastfeeding within a half-hour of birth.
- Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation even if they
should be separated from their infants.
- Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless
medically indicated.
- Practice rooming-in, allow mothers and infants to remain together - 24 hours
a day.
- Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
- Give no artificial teats or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to
breastfeeding infants.
- Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers
to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.
All Baby-Friendly facilities adhere to the International Code of Marketing
of Breastmilk Substitutes and all Subsequent WHA Resolutions. The Code seeks
to protect breastfeeding by ensuring the ethical marketing of breastmilk
substitutes by industry.
Who Benefits from Baby-Friendly?
The woman and her child
 | Consistent care, information and advice. Staff in maternity and pediatric
units have a written policy, which they understand and follow. |
| Consistent and skilled help with breastfeeding. Staff are required to be
able to support women who wish to breastfeed. |
| Early initiation of breastfeeding. Babies are not unnecessarily removed from
mothers at birth, thereby encouraging the instinctive seeking and suckling
behaviours. When mother and baby need to be separated the mother is helped
with expressing her milk and the expressed milk is given to the baby. |
| Mother's milk is valued. No food or drink other than breastmilk is given.
|
| Breastfeeding is valued. Artificial nipples and soothers are avoided.
|
| Empowerment. The woman has authority for her own resource, breastfeeding.
|
Those who care for mothers and babies
| Increased knowledge, as evidence for the Global Hospital Assessment Criteria
becomes better understood. |
| Increased skills. Staff are committed to the support of breastfeeding
mothers and their babies, even the difficult ones. |
| Increased professional competence, as practices are investigated and
challenged, and changes are made. |
| A new respect for the woman, the baby, and their ability to breastfeed when
given appropriate support. The midwife/nurse is "with woman", rather than
providing nursing management of a disease. |
| As the care becomes "woman-centred" rather than "task centred", all staff
respect the woman's need for consistent advice and empowerment, thereby
increasing cooperation and collaboration between different staff members.
|
Maternity units
| A high standard that is measured by the unit and confirmed by a
Baby-Friendly™ team representing professional and lay assessors. |
| A Global Hospital Assessment Criteria, recognised and respected by
professionals and consumers. |
| Valuable in marketing the services provided. |
| Considerable monetary savings.
|
The family
| Health and development of infant. |
| Health of mother. |
| Cost saving, immediate and long term, breastfeeding is the "Best Investment"
a family can make. |
The community
| Flow-on from family. |
| Environmental considerations. No waste products.
|
What Parents need to know about Baby-Friendly? (
UK website file)
|
