Breastfeeding support and avoiding inappropriate breast milk substitute marketing in a neonatal ward in the Czech...

The aim of this implementation project was to improve breastfeeding support, and more specifically, to increase compliance with the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) and the requirements of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (the Code).

The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding of the BFHI have been shown to improve breastfeeding outcomes at target hospitals. The Code is a minimum standard for the regulation of marketing practices related to breastfeeding support.

We used the JBI evidence implementation model to identify a group of stakeholders in a hospital in the Czech Republic and carried out a best practice implementation project from January 2021 to May 2022. After conducting a baseline audit, the clinical team and external breastfeeding experts discussed challenges and devised an implementation plan using the JBI Getting Research into Practice framework. Follow-up audits were undertaken from January to December 2021 and in May 2022.

Compliance improved across all audited criteria, namely, to fully comply with the Code (0% to 100%); to have a written infant feeding policy (0% to 100%); to ensure staff have skills to support breastfeeding (0% to 100%); to discuss breastfeeding with pregnant women (0% to 100%); to facilitate skin-to-skin contact (67.86% to 83.58%); to support and provide help with breastfeeding (67.86% to 82.09%); to not provide fluids other than breast milk (50% to 58.21%); to practice rooming-in (57.14% to 61.19%); to respond to infant cues (50% to 64.18%); to provide information about community support services (32.14% to 62.69%); and to coordinate discharge and ongoing care (0% to 100%).

Breastfeeding support requires a sustained long-term effort before it can become fully established. The involvement of national-level policy makers is needed.