Breastfeeding in crisis: survey results of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative

Abstract

Objective: To assess current breastfeeding practices in hospital in South Africa.

Design: Survey conducted by means of a postal questionnaire for hospitals and a questionnaire based on the baby-friendly initiative action folder for mothers.

Setting: All private and provincial hospitals according to the 1992 address list supplied by the Department of National Health: Readers of "Living and Loving" and breastfeeding liaison groups.

Main outcome measure: The level of implementation of the "Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding"

Results: Less than half of the responding hospitals reported having a written breastfeeding policy. Most hospitals have a shortage of specialized training in the support of breastfeeding. This is consistent with the outcome of the maternal questionnaire indicating that the average hospital is not baby friendly.

Conclusions: A concerted effort should be made by hospitals to implement the "Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding" and attention should be given to building breastfeeding skills into the curriculum for medical students, nurses and allied disciplines as well as in-service training for current health care workers.