D1 Discovery
Welcome to the D1: Discovery Phase, the first of four phases on the 4-D
Pathway to Baby-Friendly designation. The Discovery Phase is the time
to discover what it means to be a Baby-Friendly facility. Among the
most important things to discover are the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding,
the principles that guide the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.
Attainment of Baby-Friendly designation will require that your hospital
or birthing center meets specific benchmarks for all of the Ten Steps.
The three tasks
which your hospital or birthing center must complete during
the D1:Discovery Phase are: (1) register with
Baby-Friendly USA, (2) submit a CEO letter documenting administrative
support to undertake this process, and (3) complete and submit a
Facility Data Sheet and Self-Appraisal Tool.
TASK 1: Register with Baby-Friendly USA
There is no fee to register your facility with BFUSA. Registration is a two part process which includes submitting the New Registration and Discovery Registration forms.
Click here to complete and submit the New Registration Form. Once we have received this form, you as the facility's initial registrant, will receive a temporary user name and temporary password that will provide you access to the online Discovery Registration form. Once both parts of the registration process have been completed and your facility has identified its three (3) BFUSA system users, these users will receive an email instructing them on how to access their account.
TASK 2: Obtain a CEO Support Letter
Administrative
support to undertake the Baby-Friendly journey is associated with
greater success in attaining the designation. Once you have obtained
this letter, please submit a copy to BFUSA.
Click here for a sample CEO support letter
TASK 3: Complete Facility Data Sheet and Self-Appraisal Tool
The Facility Data Sheet tool is used to gather additional facility information, as well as your breastfeeding initiation and exclusivity rates.
The purpose of Self-Appraisal tool is to provide your facility with a benchmark for current maternity practices as you embark on the Baby-Friendly journey. The Self-Appraisal Tool is neither scored nor graded by BFUSA. Rather, it is a tool for your facility and BFUSA to use as you move along the 4-D Pathway to Baby-Friendly designation. Your hospital or birthing center will use the Self-Appraisal Tool to develop a plan for meeting the Ten Steps for Successful Breastfeeding. BFUSA will use the tool to monitor your facility's progress and evaluate the comprehensiveness of your facility's plans as you continue your Baby-Friendly journey.
Please note: once you have formally registered and been accepted into the
Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, you will receive a user name and
password that will enable you to login to the BFUSA portal to complete
and submit your Facility Data Sheet and Self-Appraisal tools online. Do not submit either of these sample tools in paper form.
Click here to view a sample Facility Data Sheet. Click here to view Instructions/Guidance for completing the online Facility Data Sheet (once a facility is officially registered they will receive LOGIN information.)
Click here to view a sample Self-Appraisal Tool.Click here to view a PowerPoint presentation on Navigating the BFUSA Portal
Once your facility has successfully completed these three tasks and submitted the appropriate Development Phase Fee, Baby-Friendly USA will send your facility a Registry of Intent acknowledging your facility's acceptance into the D2: Development Phase of the 4-D pathway and will provide you with access to the online Development Phase tool kit.
- To ensure that BFUSA emails do not get bounced by your server, please add the domain @babyfriendlyusa.org to your email account's Do Not Block Domain List. Contact your IT Department if you do not know how to set this up.
