Implementing the WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative in the community: a ‘hearts and minds’ approach

Thomson, Gill; Bilson, Andy; Dykes, Fiona

doi:10.1016/j.midw.2011.03.003

Cited by 25 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…In UK and Australian studies, participants generally expressed a belief, commitment and passion towards breastfeeding and consequently valued the BFHI 16,18 . .…”

Section: Healthy Lives Healthy Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The requirements for training and education enabled staff to resolve their own personal experiences and prejudices around infant feeding as well as encourage and facilitate consistency and efficiency in providing breastfeeding support 16,18,21 . Participants identified how the training had enabled them to become 'better at what we do'…”

Section: Empowering Professionals and Improving Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within a number of the studies, the BFHI was considered to be an arduous process 16,19,21 ; 'a mountain to climb' 18 due to the constant need to train new staff members and the lack of skills and abilities in undertaking task requirements:…”

Section: Overwhelmed By Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…admission onto the neonatal unit); early discharge policies, inadequate staffing and busy units 16,18,[20][21][22] . …”

Section: Spatial and Resource Constraintsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; enhancing staff confidence in providing breastfeeding support, and helping women to resolve any concerns or issues 16,17,22 :…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A meta-ethnographic study of health care staff perceptions of the WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Health Initiative

et al. 2014

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Findings: Three overarching themes were identified. First the BFHI was viewed variously as a 'desirable innovation or an unfriendly imposition'. Participants were passionate about supporting breastfeeding and improving consistency in the information provided. This view was juxtaposed against the belief that BFHI represents an imposition on women's choices, and is a costly exercise for little gain in breastfeeding rates. The second theme highlighted cultural and organisational constraints and obstacles to BFHI implementation including resource issues, entrenched staff practices and staff rationalisation of non-compliance.Theme three captured a level of optimism and enthusiasm amongst participants who could identify a dedicated and credible leader to lead the BFHI change process. Collaborative engagement with all key stakeholders was crucial.Conclusions: Health care staff hold variant beliefs and attitudes towards BFHI, which can help or hinder the implementation process. The introduction of the BFHI at a local level requires detailed planning, extensive collaboration, and an enthusiastic and committed leader to drive the change process. This synthesis has highlighted the importance of thinking more creatively about the translation of this global policy into effective change at the local level.

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“…In UK and Australian studies, participants generally expressed a belief, commitment and passion towards breastfeeding and consequently valued the BFHI 16,18 . .…”

Section: Healthy Lives Healthy Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Empowering Professionals and Improving Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Overwhelmed By Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…admission onto the neonatal unit); early discharge policies, inadequate staffing and busy units 16,18,[20][21][22] . …”

Section: Spatial and Resource Constraintsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; enhancing staff confidence in providing breastfeeding support, and helping women to resolve any concerns or issues 16,17,22 :…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A meta-ethnographic study of health care staff perceptions of the WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Health Initiative

et al. 2014

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Baby (Not So) Friendly: Implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative in Serbia

Pantović

2022

Global Maternal and Child Health

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The WHO and UNICEF launched The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in 1991 with the goal of promoting breastfeeding. Four years later, this initiative was adopted in Serbia (then Yugoslavia). Although Serbia has officially been a part of the BFHI for over 26 years, less than 13% of children are currently exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life. Drawing on interviews, observations and document review, this chapter offers ethnographic insight into why the BFHI in Serbia has met with little success. I argue that the principles and practices of the initiative to promote breastfeeding have been both thinly learned and thinly applied by healthcare workers and therefore have had little positive impact on women’s empowerment to breastfeed or the rates of breastfeeding in the country. I show how the global Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative implemented in Serbia in the early 1990s and the national level policies which renewed it in 2018 were severely constrained by social, political and economic conditions that hindered the uptake of the program by frontline health workers – namely the devastating effects of the civil war and international sanctions in the 1990s, and the deleterious effects of IMF policies on the Serbian healthcare system since the 2000s. The pressure of time due to high workloads, and understaffed hospitals, in combination with unsustainable national funds for implementation may contribute to the reality of the thin implementation of BFHI.

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Implementing a WIC-Based Intervention to Promote Exclusive Breastfeeding: Challenges, Facilitators, and Adaptive Strategies

Eldridge

Hartnett

Lee

et al. 2017

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

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Implementing the WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative in the community: a ‘hearts and minds’ approach

Cited by 25 publications

References 21 publications

A meta-ethnographic study of health care staff perceptions of the WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Health Initiative

A meta-ethnographic study of health care staff perceptions of the WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Health Initiative

Baby (Not So) Friendly: Implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative in Serbia

Implementing a WIC-Based Intervention to Promote Exclusive Breastfeeding: Challenges, Facilitators, and Adaptive Strategies

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