Breastfeeding Advocacy Toolkit
A knowledge and tool base for breastfeeding advocates
The Breastfeeding Advocacy Toolkit is a comprehensive collection of advocacy tools and resources aimed at improving policies and financing for the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding. The Toolkit is intended for breastfeeding advocates and other stakeholders seeking information and tools to support the Collective’s seven policy actions.
Compendium of Skilled Breastfeeding Counselling Case Studies
Compendium of Skilled Breastfeeding Counselling Case Studies
The Global Breastfeeding Collective has developed an advocacy brief outlining seven actions that stakeholders, donors, and governments can take to improve access to skilled breastfeeding counselling. This document is a companion to that brief, providing a compendium of current examples of how individual countries, programmes and initiatives have successfully answered these calls to action and offering practical guidance and recommendations on how others can replicate their success. Eight case studies were selected because they explicitly address a call to action, while also providing a geographically diverse and robust set of examples with learnings that are applicable for audiences around the globe.
Global Breastfeeding Scorecard 2021
Global Breastfeeding Scorecard 2021
Global Breastfeeding Scorecard 2021, Protecting Breastfeeding Through Bold National Actions During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond The Global Breastfeeding Scorecard examines national performance on key indicators of the seven policy priorities. The Scorecard is designed to encourage and document progress on the promotion, protection and support of breastfeeding. , Organization, Global Breastfeeding Collective, Year, 2021, Language, English Global Breastfeeding Scorecard 2021
Infant and young child feeding counselling: an integrated course
Infant and young child feeding counselling: an integrated course
This training package aligns with health strategies aimed at improving infant and young child feeding, by allowing you to create a customized training package that will respond directly to the specific learning needs of your health workers. The training modules cover a range of topics, including breastfeeding, complementary feeding, growth assessment and monitoring, HIV and infant feeding, and infant and young child feeding counselling. Depending on the context of your local nutrition situation, it is important for you to select and prioritize sessions that will contribute to the greatest improvement of infant and young child feeding in your area. There are several actions that you can take to select and prioritize which training sessions will best respond to the individual needs of the health workers in your country or region.
Operational Guidance on Breastfeeding Counselling in Emergencies
Operational Guidance on Breastfeeding Counselling in Emergencies
This Operational Guidance on Breastfeeding Counselling in Emergencies (OG-BFC/E) is a pragmatic guide which covers key considerations and potential adaptations when applying WHO’s 2018 guidelines in an emergency setting. This guidance is intended to be used by policymakers and other decision makers and programmers working in emergencies (both local/national emergencies and humanitarian emergencies) including governments, United Nations (UN) agencies, national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as donors, volunteer groups and providers of care to pregnant women and families with infants and young children.
Implementation guidance on counselling women to improve breastfeeding practices
Implementation guidance on counselling women to improve breastfeeding practices
This document provides global guidance for implementing the recommendations outlined in the WHO guideline ‘Counselling of Women to Improve Breastfeeding Practices’. The core purpose of this document is to ensure that all women receive high quality breastfeeding counselling through ensuring that breastfeeding counselling programmes meet mothers’ needs at the right times, with appropriately trained staff, in a sufficient number of contacts, and in a manner and mode most appropriate for their local context.
The Role of Midwives and Nurses in Protecting, Promoting and Supporting Breastfeeding
The Role of Midwives and Nurses in Protecting, Promoting and Supporting Breastfeeding
Midwives and nurses play a vital role in protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding worldwide. Skilled breastfeeding support from midwives and nurses helps prevent childhood infections and mortality, while boosting cognitive development and decreasing rates of obesity, diabetes and maternal and child cancers. This Advocacy Brief was developed by the Global Breastfeeding Collective in collaboration with the Council of International Neonatal Nurses, the International Confederation of Midwives, and BEST Services of Ireland.
Protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding: the BFHI for small, sick and preterm newborns
Protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding: the BFHI for small, sick and preterm newborns
All inpatient newborns, except those affected by rare metabolic diseases, will benefit from breastfeeding and human milk. For many, it will mean their survival. This guidance aims to establish a system of care which emphasizes the provision of human milk to small, sick and/or premature infants, especially those who are initially unable to feed…, Organization, UNICEF, WHO, Publication date, 2020, Language, English BFHI for small, sick and preterm newborns
Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative training course for maternity staff
Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative training course for maternity staff
All health workers who care for women and children during the postnatal period and beyond have a key role to play in establishing and sustaining breastfeeding. Many health workers cannot fulfil this role effectively because they have not been trained to do so. This updated training course is built upon the revised 2018 Ten Steps to Successful…, Organization, UNICEF, WHO, Publication date, 2020, Language, English BFHi training course for maternity staff
Competency verification toolkit
Competency verification toolkit
The 2018 BFHI Implementation Guidance called for greater pre-service education on breastfeeding and called upon all maternity facilities to “Ensure that staff have sufficient knowledge, competence and skills to support breastfeeding (Step 2).” This guide presents a comprehensive competency verification toolkit to assist countries, health care…, Organization, UNICEF, WHO, Publication date, 2020, Language, English Competency verification toolkit
Global Breastfeeding Scorecard
Global Breastfeeding Scorecard
WHO and UNICEF have established recommendations for breastfeeding practices. Although every mother decides how to feed her child, this decision is strongly influenced by economic, environmental, social and political factors. The Global Breastfeeding Scorecard analyzes indicators on how countries protect, promote and support breastfeeding through…, Organization, Global Breastfeeding Collective | UNICEF | WHO, Publication date, Updated annually since 2017, Language, English Scorecard UNICEF/UNI182998/Quintos Annual reports breastfeeding scorecard Breastfeeding Scorecard 2024 breastfeeding scorecard methodology Breastfeeding Scorecard Methodology 2024 Breastfeeding Scorecard 2023 Breastfeeding Scorecard Methodology 2023 Breastfeeding Scorecard 2022 Breastfeeding Scorecard Methodology 2022 Breastfeeding…
Skilled breastfeeding counselling
Skilled breastfeeding counselling
Breastfeeding is a pillar of child health, survival and development, and has positive health effects for women. Policies that protect, promote, and support breastfeeding can improve health and cognitive development for infants and young children, leading to better learning, educational attainment and productivity, increased household wages, and economic benefits. Increasing breastfeeding worldwide to recommended levels would prevent 820,000 child deaths. Long-term health benefits for children are also considerable as breastfeeding help reduce child and adult risk of overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Babies should be put immediately in skin-to-skin contact to enable breastfeeding within the first hour of life, breastfeed exclusively for the first six months and continue breastfeeding up to two years or beyond. Recent estimates suggest that only 49 per cent of babies start breastfeeding in the first hour of life. About 44 per cent of infants less than 6 months of age are exclusively breastfed, and the rate of continued breastfeeding at 2 years of age is also 44 per cent. Skilled breastfeeding counselling is key to improving breastfeeding rates. The World Health Organization has developed a set of guidelines that define the expected services and staff competencies required to deliver high-quality breastfeeding counselling. The Global Breastfeeding Scorecard indicates that the coverage of skilled breastfeeding counselling is suboptimal. Countries must do better to provide quality skilled breastfeeding counselling to all families to ensure equitable care and improved outcomes.
Call to Action
Call to Action
Breastfeeding gives all children the healthiest start in life. Breastmilk acts as a baby’s first vaccine, stimulates brain development, and protects a woman’s health. When mothers breastfeed, everyone benefits. Breastfeeding leads to lower health care costs, healthier families, and a smarter workforce. Yet, only 44 per cent of children under six months of age are fed only breastmilk. UNICEF and WHO are leading a Global Breastfeeding Collective to increase political commitment for breastfeeding—one of the smartest investments a country can make. The initiative aims to increase early initiation, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond, together with appropriate, adequate and safe complementary foods. We call upon implementers and donors from governments, philanthropies, international organizations, civil society to: Increase funding to raise breastfeeding rates from birth through two years Fully implement the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and relevant World Health Assembly resolutions through strong legal measures that are enforced and independently monitored by organizations free from conflicts of interest. Enact paid family leave and workplace breastfeeding policies, building on the International Labour Organization’s maternity protection guidelines as a minimum requirement, including provisions for the informal sector. Implement the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding in maternity facilities, including providing breastmilk for sick and vulnerable newborns. Improve access to skilled breastfeeding counselling as part of comprehensive breastfeeding policies and programmes in health facilities. Strengthen links between health facilities and communities, and encourage community networks that protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. Strengthen monitoring systems that track the progress of policies, programmes, and funding towards achieving both national and global breastfeeding targets.