Friendly Hospital Initiatives

Background: World Health organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have been recommended the application of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in order to promote & support breastfeeding. The aim of this study was to assess pregnant and lactating mothers ' attitudes and practice of ten steps to successful breastfeeding at KFHU. Methods: Data was collected using interview questionnaire sheet from pregnant ladies in the third trimester (N=73) and lactating mothers (N=84) who are delivered and have infants from 6 hours up to 6 months of life at KFHU. Results: more than two thirds of the sample has secondary or university education. Majority of mothers breastfed their previous children but 36.9 % of them discontinued breastfeeding before 6 months. Health education addressing breastfeeding was given only for 16.6 % of the total sample. Mothers agree to feed their babies on demand (74.5%), day and night (82.8%), to continue breastfeeding up to 2 years (75.8%), while 47.8 % were agree to exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months.Conclusion: Although there was a clear agreement about the steps to successful breastfeeding among pregnant & lactating mothers, the actual practice of these steps are obviously incongruent with BFHI criteria for accreditation. Recommendation: health education, training and support fo