Baby friendly care

In 1991, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a global campaign called the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI). The initiative encourages health professionals to promote, protect and support breastfeeding as the optimal method of infant nutrition and enables families to make an informed choice about infant feeding. Hospitals that serve perinatal families are the focus, because what starts in the hospital carries on into the community. Recognizing the vital role of nurses as patient advocates and health promoters, and their position as the largest group of hospital-based health care workers, WHO and UNICEF are asking nurses to facilitate the implementation of the initiative in their hospitals.