The Mother and Child Health and Education Trust
About us


Our Portals & Sites Connect with us Contact

Join Us!

Translation Volunteers Needed

The Mother and Child Health and Education Trust
Hong Kong registered charity no 91/10374

HealthPhone™

Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding


Home > Channels > Mother Child

 Watch More Videos — Breastfeeding Library

EnglishEnglish

The Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global effort by UNICEF and the World Health Organization to implement practices that protect, promote and support breastfeeding. It aims to ensure that all maternities, whether free standing or in a hospital, become centers of breastfeeding support. Hospitals and maternity units set a powerful example for new mothers.

The "Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding" are the foundation of BFHI and summarize the maternity practices necessary to support breastfeeding. A maternity facility can be designated 'baby-friendly' when it does not accept free or low-cost breastmilk substitutes, feeding bottles or teats, and has implemented these 10 specific steps to support successful breastfeeding.

UNICEF HealthPhone
Produced by: UNICEF India, HealthPhone™
Directed by: Fullframe



Watch Videos

Watch More Videos — Breastfeeding Library
Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding


Every facility providing maternity services and care for newborn infants should:


Step 1 - Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Step 1 - Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.

 Step 2 - Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Step 2 - Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
Step 3 - Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Step 3 - Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.

 Step 4 - Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Step 4 - Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within a half-hour of birth.
Step 5 - Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Step 5 - Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they should be separated from their infants.

 Step 6 - Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Step 6 - Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk unless medically indicated.
Step 7 - Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Step 7 - Practice rooming-in - allow mothers and infants to remain together - 24 hours a day.

 Step 8 - Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Step 8 - Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
Step 9 - Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Step 9 - Give no artificial teats or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants.

 Step 10 - Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Step 10 - Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.


Watch More Videos — Breastfeeding Library




1 April, 2013

HealthPhone™



Follow HealthPhone™ on Twitter



© The Mother and Child Health and Education Trust

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
Except where otherwise noted, some rights reserved under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

top of page