As my dedicated readers know by now, breastfeeding means a lot to me. I believe in the emotional benefits of how it helps nurture an attached relationship, and I strongly believe in it's physical benefits. For those of you who need reminding, here's a quick overview of some of the benefits.
That is just a conservative list, but it clearly shows that breastfeeding is a vital part of healthy growth and development. As such, breastfeeding needs to be supported, encouraged, promoted, and celebrated, which is the goal of World Brestfeeding Week.
This year, the theme of World Breastfeeding Week is the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.
So without further ado...
Ten Steps to successful Breastfeeding
1. Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
2. Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
3. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
4. Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within half an hour of birth.
5. Show mothers how to breastfeed, and how to maintain lactation even if they should be separated from their infants.
6. Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.
7. Practise rooming-in – that is, allow mothers and infants to remain together – 24 hours a day.
8. Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
9. Give no artificial teats or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants.
10. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.
So pop back in and join me the rest of this week for discussion on the Ten Steps, how we've seen it implemented (or not), and a celebration of breast feeding.
Note- Blogger refuses to let me use "normal font" and is only allowing Small/est or Large/st, I hope I get this sorted out soon.
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