World Health Organization
In 1989, WHO and UNICEF described the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding as a global standard of quality maternity care. The Ten Steps address facility policies, training, community outreach, and caring procedures for new mothers and babies. The Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was launched to encourage maternity facilities worldwide to adopt the Ten Steps. Maternity facilities that adhere to the Ten Steps and comply with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes are awarded the prestigious title of being “Baby-friendly.”
In the Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding, the World Health Assembly called upon all countries to ensure that every facility providing maternity services fully practices all the Ten Steps. This report provides an analysis of the current status of the BFHI in countries around the world, based on results from the 2nd Global Nutrition Policy Review 2016-17 (GNPR2).
