The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding were developed by a team of global experts and consist of evidence-based practices that have been shown to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration. Baby-Friendly hospitals and birthing facilities must adhere to the Ten Steps to receive, and retain, a Baby-Friendly designation.
The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding are:
- Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
- Train all health care staff in the skills necessary to implement this policy.
- Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
- 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 remain together 24 hours a day.
- Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
- 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 birth center.
Click here to view Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding Q & A.
Need more information, visit our FAQ and 4-D Pathway Resource pages to learn more.
The Ten Steps are endorsed and promoted by the major maternal and child health authorities in the United States, including:
- American Academy of Family Physicians
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American Academy of Nurses
- American Academy of Pediatrics
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American College of Nurse-Midwives
- Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine
- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
- Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- National WIC Association
- U.S. Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
- U.S. Surgeon General
