An historical document analysis of the introduction of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative into the Australian setting

Increasing the exclusive breastfeeding rate in a private hospital in UAE through quality improvement initiatives

BACKGROUND

Mother's milk is the best, and ideal method for infant feeding. We found that this practice was not being followed in our hospital. A survey was conducted in the unit with regards to breastfeeding practices which revealed that most babies who were discharged from our nursery were on formula supplements. Our goal was to improve established breastfeeding rates in the unit by increasing the number of full-term healthy babies who were discharged on exclusive Breastfeeding.

METHOD

A project team was formed, and data were collected through direct observations and direct interviews with postnatal mothers. Exclusive Breastfeeding at discharge was defined as a baby being fully on breastfeed with no additional formula supplements for at least 12 hours prior to discharge. The primary outcome was to increase the percentage of babies being discharged on exclusive Breastfeeding. We used the FOCUS PDCA model to measure improvements and 8 PDCA cycles of 4 weeks duration were implemented to test the changes.

RESULTS

The interventions we put in place led to a considerable nine times overall improvement in the established breastfeeding rates. Among all the interventions, the most promising results were observed during the PDCA cycles involving staff education, the introduction of antenatal classes for mothers, skin to skin contact and rooming in.

CONCLUSION

Breastfeeding rates in the private sector with nursery services can be improved by reinforcing breastfeeding education for mothers in addition to training the maternal care staff, empowering them to promote and assist in breastfeeding.

Perspectives about the baby friendly hospital/health initiative in Australia: an online survey

BACKGROUND

Evidence supports the health and economic benefits of breastfeeding, and the positive impact of the Baby Friendly Health Initiative (BFHI) on increasing breastfeeding rates and improving breastfeeding outcomes. The BFHI is a World Health Organization and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund initiative to promote, support and maintain breastfeeding. The BFHI was updated in 2018 and includes the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding (the Ten Steps 2018) and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the WHO Code). Despite policy and guideline support for breastfeeding and the BFHI, there are currently only 70 accredited hospitals, healthcare centres and regional clusters in Australia, accounting for 23% of maternity facilities. This research aimed to explore health professionals and other stakeholders' perspectives on the uptake and implementation of the BFHI in Australia from an organisational change perspective.

METHODS

An online survey administered via relevant Australian-based professional associations was fully or partially completed by 332 participants who support mothers and newborns in their roles. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyse quantitative and qualitative data.

RESULTS

The majority of participants supported legislating the WHO Code, closely monitoring BFHI compliance, ensuring sufficient knowledge about breastfeeding and the BFHI among staff, improving care within maternity facilities, continuous support of mothers' post-discharge, and improving social media support of breastfeeding. It was also perceived that an interdisciplinary team approach and multidisciplinary involvement were important requirements for successfully implementing the BFHI. There was no consensus among participants that Australian health policies support breastfeeding and the implementation of the BFHI.

CONCLUSIONS

This study emphasised the significance of legislation around the Code, executive and leadership support and culture, and providing adequate resources concerning uptake and implementation of the BFHI. Considering that uptake of the BFHI has been limited and no formal government support has been provided to further develop the BFHI and support the Code in Australia, findings of this research may help with potential future actions to facilitate the BFHI uptake and Code implementation.

External evaluation and self-monitoring of the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative's maternity hospitals in Brazil

Background

In Brazil, the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) proposes following the criteria, the “Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding”, International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and Good birth and delivery practices. Brazilian Baby-Friendly Hospitals are reassessed triennially by external evaluators and annually by self-monitoring. This study aimed to verify if the self-monitoring system fulfills its role of enabling accredited hospitals to assess and improve their compliance with the BFHI criteria. In this sense, we will analyze the self-monitoring evaluation results and compare them with those of the external reassessment.

Methods

This descriptive evaluation study of the compliance with the BFHI criteria by the Brazilian Baby-Friendly Hospitals by self-monitoring evaluators from 2010 to 2015 and by external evaluators in 2015.

Results

Self-monitoring was performed in all years from 2010 to 2015 by 143 BFHI accredited hospitals. The trend of the levels of compliance with BFHI’s criteria according to self-monitoring evaluations was stable over the assessed period. Most criteria presented compliance above 70%, except Step 4 (skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding in the first hour of life), with mean compliance of 67%. Steps 1 (written policy), 7 (rooming-in) and 9 (give no artificial teats) showed mean compliance above 90%. Regarding the external evaluation carried out in 2015, the criteria with lowest compliance were Step 4 and Woman-Friendly care, both below 50%. Steps 9 and 10 (refer mothers to breastfeeding support groups) reached levels of compliance above 90%. For 2015, self-monitoring provided significant higher compliance levels than those from external evaluations in most criteria, except Step 3 (prenatal information on breastfeeding) and Step 10. There was a difference of more than 30% points between evaluations of Steps 1 (written policy), 2 (training), 5 (show mothers how to breastfeed), Woman-Friendly Care and father or mother stay with their newborn.

Conclusions

The self-monitoring system fulfilled partially its role of allowing accredited hospitals to self-assess and improve rates of compliance with BFHI criteria. Future trainings of hospital managers need to address difficulties and identify solutions to improve implementation of Steps 4 and 6.

The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative and the ten steps for successful breastfeeding. a critical review of the literature

There is no doubt regarding the multiple benefits of breastfeeding for infants and society in general. Therefore, the World Health Organization (WHO) in a conjoint effort with United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) developed the "Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding" in 1992, which became the backbone of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI). Following this development, many hospitals and countries intensified their position towards creating a "breastfeeding oriented" practice. Over the past two decades, the interest increased in the BFHI and the Ten Steps. However, alongside the implementation of the initiative, extensive research continues to evaluate the benefits and dangers of the suggested practices. Hence, it is our intention to make a critical evaluation of the current BFHI and the Ten Steps recommendations in consideration of the importance of providing an evidence-based breastfeeding supported environment for our mothers and infants.

Predictors of breastfeeding exclusivity and duration in a hospital without Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative accreditation: A prospective cohort study

AIM

The aim of this study was to investigate the maternity care factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding duration at three months and six months postpartum in a setting without BFHI accrediation.

METHODS

A prospective cohort design. Participants from one tertiary maternity hospital were eligible if they intended to exclusively breastfeed, had birthed a live, term baby; were breastfeeding at recruitment; were rooming-in with their baby; were healthy and well; and understood English. Participants completed an infant feeding survey using 24-h recall questions at three time-points. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis and regression modelling.

FINDINGS

We recruited 424 participants of whom 84% (n=355) responded to the survey at 3-months and 79% (n=335) at 6-months. Women who avoided exposure to intrapartum opioid analgesia (e.g. intramuscular, intraveous or epidural) were more likely to be exclusively breastfeeding at 3-months postpartum (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15-3.80, probability value (p) 0.016). The only other modifiable predictor of exclusive breastfeeding at 3-months was non-exposure to artificial formula on the postnatal ward (aOR 2.44, 95% CI 1.43-4.18, p<0.001). At 6-months postpartum, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding had reduced to 5% (n=16) which rendered regression modelling untenable.

DISCUSSION

Strategies to decrease exposure to opioid analgesia in birth settings and the use of infant formula on the postnatal ward may improve exclusive breastfeeding at three months.

CONCLUSION

Results suggest that both intrapartum and postpartum maternity care practices can predict long-term breastfeeding success.