Objectives:

The short-term objectives of this course are:

• To help equip the hospital staff with the knowledge and skill base necessary to transform their health facilities into baby-friendly institutions through implementation of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, and
• To sustain policy and practice changes. This course is suitable for staff who has contact with pregnant women, mothers and their newborn infants. The staff may include doctors, midwives, nurses, health care assistants, nutritionists, peer supporters and other staff. It is also suitable for use in pre-service training so that students are prepared with the knowledge and skills to support breastfeeding when they begin work. A hospital may use sections of the course to provide short in-service sessions for staff on specific topics. The course by itself cannot transform hospitals, but it can provide a common foundation for basic breastfeeding management that will lay the basis for change. These health workers in contact with the women and her child, along with hospital administrators, policy makers, and government officials will then have the bigger task of ensuring long-term implementation of appropriate policies that support optimal infant feeding. On completion of this course, the participant is expected to be able to:
• use communication skills to talk with pregnant women, mothers and co-workers;
• practice the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and abide by the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes;
• discuss with a pregnant woman the importance of breastfeeding and outline practices that support the initiation of breastfeeding;
• facilitate skin-to-skin contact and early initiation of breastfeeding;
• assist a mother to learn the skills of positioning and attaching her baby as well as the skill of hand expression;
• discuss with a mother how to find support for breastfeeding after she returns home;
• outline what needs to be discussed with a women who is not breastfeeding and know to whom to refer this woman for further assistance with feeding her baby;
• identify practices that support and those that interfere with breastfeeding;
• Work with co-workers to highlight barriers to breastfeeding and seek ways to overcome those barriers.

Key Points:

• Breastfeeding is important for mother and baby.
• Most mothers and babies can breastfeed.
• Mothers and babies who are not breastfeeding need extra care to be healthy.
• Hospital practices can help (or hinder) baby and mother friendly practices.
• Implementing the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative helps good practices to happen.

Session Outlines:

• Session 1: BFHI: a part of the Global Strategy
• Session 2: Communication skills
• Session 3: Promoting breastfeeding during pregnancy
• Session 4: Protecting breastfeeding
• Session 5: Birth practices and breastfeeding
• Session 6: How milk gets from breast to baby
• Session 7: Helping with a breastfeed
• Session 8: Practices that assist breastfeeding
• Session 9: Milk supply
• Session 10: Infants with special needs
• Session 11: If baby cannot feed at the breast
• Session 12: Breast and nipple conditions
• Session 13: Maternal health concerns
• Session 14: On-going support for mothers
• Session 15: Making your hospital baby-friendly