While there are many factors in a mother choosing to breastfeed, perhaps the hospital and the health professionals surrounding the new mothers are one of the strongest. The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was started by World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to increase the possibility that new mothers choose to breastfeed. There are ten steps a hospital must achieve in order to be considered a Baby Friendly Hospital according to Baby Friendly USA:
1.Maintain 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 infants no food or drink other than breastmilk, unless medically indicated.
7.Practice “rooming in”– allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
8.Encourage unrestricted breastfeeding.
9.Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding newborns.
10.Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic
Of course, a mother can still have a successful birth and thrive while breastfeeding if an infant is not born in a Baby Friendly Hospital; but when a baby is born in an environment that chooses to put breastfeeding first, the mother, infant and the health professionals involved will be able to work as a team under the ten steps of the Initiative.
In Colorado, there are three Baby Friendly Hospitals, Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette; Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland; and Poudre Valley Hospital located in Fort Collins. By involving more hospitals in the BFHI, patient care and outcomes for mom and baby will improve and hopefully meet Universal Breastfeeding goals in the process.
Kelsey Munn
Dietetic Student at
University of Northern Colorado