UNICEF/WHO Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) Training Materials

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Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative - Revised, updated and expanded for integrated care

WHO/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative Training Materials
- updated 2009 - at UNICEF web site

Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative
Revised, updated and expanded for integrated care
- at WHO web site

Authors: World Health Organization, UNICEF
Publication date: 2009
Languages: English
ISBN: 978 92 4 159495 0 (set)

The revised BFHI package is offered for consideration for country implementation and includes:

Section 1: Background and Implementation
offers new approaches for country and hospital implementation, emphasizing sustainability and options for expansion and integration. In addition, significant changes have been made to the training materials.

Section 2: Strengthening and sustaining the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative
has been updated to focus on the revised BFHI materials, includes new research results and offers guidance for implementing BFHI in settings of high HIV prevalence.

Section 3: Breastfeeding Promotion and Support in a Baby-friendly Hospital, a 20-hour course for maternity staff
has updated technical information and additional clinical practice sessions and includes an emphasis on supportive practices during labour and birth, skin-to-skin contact, preparation for discharge, HIV considerations, and working towards Baby-Friendly status. It corresponds to a 20-hour course for training facility staff (clinical and non-clinical)

Section 4: Hospital Self-Appraisal and Monitoring
includes the revised Global Criteria, a strengthened self-appraisal tool and a range of monitoring tools for consideration.

Section 5. External Assessment and Reassessment, provides guidelines and tools for external assessors to use initially to assess whether hospitals meet the Global Criteria and thus fully comply with the Ten Steps, and then to reassess on a regular basis whether they continue to maintain the required standards. Section 5 is divided in three parts:

5.1 Guide for Assessors
5.2 Hospital External Assessment Tool
5.3 Guidelines and Tool for External Reassessment

It also includes:

A set of PowerPoint Slides to use in training assessors
A BFHI Assessment Computer Tool to use in scoring and presenting assessment results

Section 5: External Assessment and Reassessment is not available for general distribution but will be provided for those needing it for assessment purposes. It is available to the regional and national UNICEF offices through the UNICEF Intranet and WHO offices to provide to the national authorities for BFHI. It is then made available to the assessors who conduct BFHI assessments and reassessments.

BFHI Section 1: Background and implementation
Download [pdf 421kb]for the 6 Session Plans - 80 pages

Overview

Provides guidance on the revised processes and expansion options at the country, health facility, and community level, recognizing that the Initiative has expanded and must be mainstreamed to some extent for sustainability, and includes:

1.1Country Level Implementation
1.2 Hospital Level Implementation
1.3 The Global Criteria for BFHI
1.4 Compliance with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
1.5 Baby-friendly Expansion and Integration Options
1.6 Resources, References and Websites

BFHI Section 2: Strengthening and sustaining the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative
Download [pdf 2.21Mb]for the 8 Session Plans - 428 pages
Slides [pdf 3.16Mb] for the 8 Session Plans- 336 slides
Transparencies [pdf 794kb]for the 8 Session Plans- 276 transparencies
Benefits of breastfeeding for the infant - PowerPoint presentation

Overview

This course is an adaptation from WHO course "Promoting breast-feeding in health facilities: A short course for administrators and policy-makers". It can be used to orient hospital decisions-makers (directors, administrators, key managers, etc.) and policy-makers to the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative and the positive impacts it can have and to gain their commitment to promoting and sustaining "Baby-friendly".

The course material includes a Course Guide and eight Session Plans with handouts and PowerPoint slides. Two alternative session plans and materials for use in settings with high HIV prevalence have been included.

2.1 The national infant feeding situation
2.2 Benefits of breastfeeding
2.3 The Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative
2.4 The scientific basis for the "Ten steps to successful breastfeeding"
2.4(HIV) The scientific basis for the "Ten steps to successful breastfeeding" for settings with high HIV prevalence
2.5 Becoming "baby-friendly"
2.5(HIV) Becoming"baby-friendly" in settings with high HIV prevalence
2.6 Costs and savings
2.7 Appraising policies and practices
2.8 Developing action plans

BFHI Section 3: Breastfeeding Promotion and Support in a Baby-friendly Hospital, a 20-hour course for maternity staff
Downloads [pdf 1.66Mb]- 274 pages
Slides [pdf 2.56Mb]- 51 slides

Overview

This course replaces the "18-Hour Course".

Can be used by facilities to strengthen the knowledge and skills of their staff towards successful implementation of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and the International Code of Marketing.

3.1 Guidelines for Course Facilitators including a Course Planning Checklist
3.2 Outlines of Course Sessions
3.3 Slides for the Course

BFHI Section 4: Hospital self-appraisal and monitoring
Download [pdf 452kb]- 94 pages

Overview

Provides tools that can be used by managers and staff to help determine whether their facilities are ready to apply for external assessment, and once their facilities are designated Baby-Friendly, to monitor continued adherence to the Ten Steps.

4.1 Hospital Self-Appraisal Tool
4.2 Guidelines and Tools for Monitoring

Section 5: External Assessment and Reassessment can be obtained by contacting UNICEF and WHO Headquarters and country offices. It provides guidelines and tools for external assessors to use initially to assess whether hospitals meet the Global Criteria and thus fully comply with the Ten Steps, and then to reassess on a regular basis whether they continue to maintain the required standards.

Section 5 is restricted to members of National Breastfeeding or BFHI Steering Committees and/or certified National BFHI assessors. Section 5 includes PowerPoint slides to use when training new assessors and a computer tool that can be used to calculate and present the assessment results. This section includes:

5.1 Guide for Assessors
5.2 Hospital External Assessment Tool
5.3 Guidelines and Tool for External Reassessment

Section 5 has revised data gathering tools, new modules focused on The Code, HIV, and “mother-friendly” labour and birth.

While these materials are now ready for Country-level implementation, comments are most welcome. To contact UNICEF, send an e-mail to [email protected] (with subject: nutrition). Contact WHO at [email protected] or visit the WHO Website.

UNICEF: Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative Training Materials: (updated 2009)

Revised and Updated Expansion and Integration
Final version for country implementation

The internationally defined term 'Baby-Friendly' may be used only by maternity services that have passed external assessment according to the Global Criteria for the BFHI. The term "Baby-Friendly" is not appropriately applied to other medical services, community activities, workplaces or commercial products. Descriptions such as 'breastfeeding-friendly', 'mother-child friendly' or 'pro-breastfeeding' may be used for such other complementary efforts to help mothers to breastfeed.