Welcome to
the
Baby Friendly Health Initiative
The Baby Friendly Health
Initiative (BFHI) is an international initiativethat aims to give
every baby the best start in life by creating a health care environment
where breastfeeding is the norm and practices known to promote
the health and well-being of all babies and their mothers are
followed.
The BFHI Ten Steps to
Successful Breastfeeding are the global standard by which health
services are assessed and accredited. A 'Baby Friendly' health
service is one where mothers' informed choice of feeding is supported,
respected and encouraged.
The name change from
Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative to Baby Friendly
Health Initiative was to more accurately describe
the work the Initiative is now doing. With exciting developments
in the Community Baby Friendly section of the Initiative it was
felt that this name change was a very appropriate and positive
move.
In Australia, the Australian
College of Midwives is the Governing Body of the the Baby Friendly
Health Initiative.
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Success Stories
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In Cuba, where 49
of the country's 56 Healths and maternity facilities are baby-friendly,
the rate of exclusive breastfeeding at four mounths almost tripled
in six years - from 25 per cent in 1990 to 72 per cent in 1996.
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In the first two
years of BFHI implementation at the Central Health of Libreville
in Gabon, cases of neonatal diarrhoea fell by 15 per cent, diarrhoeal
dehydration declined by 14 per cent and mortality fell by 8
per cent.
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In China, which
now has more than 6,000 Baby-Friendly Health services, exclusive
breastfeeding in rural areas rose from 29 per cent in 1992 to
68 per cent in 1994; in urban areas, the increase was from 10
per cent to 48 per cent.
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The Catholic University
of Chile, Santiago, initiated one of the first Baby-Friendly
Health services. As a result, initiation of breastfeeding within
the first two hours increased. With a strong Step 10, a monthly
clinic, exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months increased from approximately
20% to over 60%.