|
What is the Baby-Friendly Hospital
Initiative and why do we need it?
More than one million infants worldwide die every year because they are
not breastfed or are given other foods
too early. Millions more live in poor health, contract preventable diseases,
and battle malnutrition. Although
the magnitude of this death and disease is far greater in the developing
world, thousands of infants in the United States suffer the ill effects
suboptimal feeding practices. A decreased risk of diarrhea, respiratory
and ear infections, and allergic skin disorders are among the many benefits
of breastfeeding to infants in the industrialized world.
In the United States, these benefits could translate into millions of dollars
of savings to our health care system through decreased hospitalizations
and pediatric clinic visits. For diarrhea alone, approximately 200,000 US
children, most of whom are young infants, are hospitalized each year at
a cost of more than half a billion dollars. Many of these cases of diarrhea
could have been prevented with breastfeeding. In a study of the morbidity
in an affluent US population, Dewey and colleagues found that the reduction
in morbidity in breastfed babies was of sufficient magnitude to be of public
significance. For example, the incidence of prolonged episodes of otitis
media (ear infections) was 80% lower in breastfed as compared to non-breastfed
infants. The cost savings to the health care system could be enormous if
breastfeeding duration increased, given that ear infections alone cost billions
of dollars a year.
It is a rare exception when a woman cannot breastfeed her baby for physical
or medical reasons. Yet, a woman’s ability to feel self confident and
secure with her decision to breastfeed is challenged by her family and friends,
the media, and health care providers. Much has been done in the past few
years to strengthen the sources of support for women to breastfeed. Although the hospital is not and should
not be the only place a mother receives support for breastfeeding, hospitals
provide a unique and critical link between the breastfeeding support provided
prior to and after delivery.
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global program sponsored
by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) to encourage and recognize hospitals and birthing centers
that offer an optimal level of care for infant feeding. The BFHI assists hospitals
in giving mothers the information, confidence, and skills
needed to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies
or feeding formula safely, and gives special recognition to hospitals that have done so.
|
