Children's
Health,
Children's
Rights:
Action
for the
21st
Century
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Themes / Day 4
Health Care: Health systems responsive to people's needs
 reastfeeding provides many health benefits to babies and their mothers. However, the health care system in many countries, rather than being a force in promoting breastfeeding and appropriate young child feeding, has sometimes been a negative factor. They reinforce doubts about the benefits of breastfeeding and fail to convey clear messages about how children should be fed.
The issues to discuss include: Latest evidence of the benefits of breastfeeding for mothers, children and society. Can breastmilk substitutes ever come close to human milk? What lessons can be learned from the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative? Are baby friendly hospitals enough? Is the concept sustainable? Do health workers have adequate training in nutrition? Do birth attendants and traditional healers know enough about the importance of breastfeeding, maternal nutrition, appropriate child feeding and children's rights? How much influence do food manufacturers have over the training of health workers about nutritional issues? Is this influence acceptable? Why isn't LAM (Lactation Amenorrhea Method) recognized as an effective contraceptive method? How can health workers and others establish a "warm chain" to support breastfeeding and young child nutrition?
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Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Every facility providing maternity services and care for newborn infants should:
- Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
- Train all health care staff skills necessary to implement this policy.
- Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
- Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within 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 breastmilk, unless medically indicted.
- Practise 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.
From Joint WHO/UNICEF Statement, July 1989
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