Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative

The Baby Friendly Initiative is a global initiative jointly with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UNICEF). The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative has become the primary intervention strategy for strengthening the capacity of national health systems to protect and promote breastfeeding. WHO supports committees coordinating the BFHI process by placing particular emphasis on developing core groups of trainers, at national and regional levels developing reassessment and monitoring tools, to ensure the Initiative’s continued integrity and credibility and broadening the Initiative. This is a reflective paper that has documented the implementation of Baby Friendly Hospital (BFHI) in New Zealand. It describes the collaborative processes that were necessary to achieve such a goal and the sheer determinedness of a few. It demonstrates that with collegial passion and partnership, success and a political stance can be achieved from which health policy and reform can be directed. The International context is outlined simplistically with an explanation of the important documents and global initiatives which underpin the implementation of BFHI. Th