New Mexico Well Woman - Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative

As a result of the October 2008 Mini Policy Forum, the American College of Nurse Midwives Chapter VI, and New Mexico Midwives Association decided to bring the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative to New Mexico.

The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was launched by the World Health Organization and UNICEF in 1991, following the Innocenti Declaration of 1990. The initiative is a global effort for improving the role of maternity services to enable mothers to breastfeed babies for the best start in life. The goal is to improve the care of pregnant women, mothers and newborns at health facilities that provide maternity services for protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding. Different tools and materials were developed and provided for implementation of the BFHI, including an 18-hour course, a self-appraisal tool, and an external assessment tool.

Contact: Kristen Ostrem kostrem@phs.org or Michelle Peixinho michelle@tewawomenunited.org

The BFHI promotes, protects, and supports breastfeeding through The

Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding for Hospitals, as outlined by UNICEF/WHO. The steps for the United States are:

· Maintain 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 breast feeding.

· Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.

· Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.

· Give infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.

Practice “rooming in” – allow mothers and infants to stay together 24 hours a day.

· Encourage unrestricted breastfeeding.

· Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.

· Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.