Practices Proven to be Effective
The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding was developed by an international team of experts as part of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. It consists of practices that have positively demonstrated improved effectiveness in breastfeeding initiation and duration. Baby-Friendly hospitals such as Corona Regional Medical Center must follow strict adherence to these steps in order to receive and maintain their Baby-Friendly status.
The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
- Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to the healthcare staff.
- Train all healthcare staff members in the skills necessary to implement the policy.
- Educate all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
- Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
- Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
- Give infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.
- Practice rooming in – allow mothers and infants to remain together for 24 hours.
- Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
- Do not give pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
- Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or birth center.
The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding has been endorsed by a number of organizations, including:
- Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine
- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
- American Academy of Family Physicians
- American Academy of Nurses
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American College of Nurse-Midwives
- Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- National WIC Association
- U.S. Breastfeeding Committee
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force