UNICEF: Baby Friendly Hospital

Samsung Medical Center where I am a patient has been designated at a UNICEF Baby Friendly Hospital.

In South Korea, there are 11 such hospitals.  I cannot find a list of them, but according to UNICEF there are 11 in Korea so far.  For comparison purposes, the United States has 25, Sweden has 64, Canada has 1 and the United Kingdom has 29, and Ireland has 0.  This data is from December 2000 so I am sure the numbers are up a bit by now.

What does this mean?

The criteria for a hospital's Baby Friendly accreditation include:

1. Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
2. Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
3. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
4. Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one half-hour of birth.
5. Show mothers how to breastfeed and maintain lactation, even if they should be separated from their infants.
6. Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk, not even sips of water, unless medically indicated.
7. Practice rooming in - that is, allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
8. Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
9. Give no artificial teats or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants.
10. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.

The program also restricts use by the hospital of free formula or other infant care aids provided by formula companies and recommends that when formula is medically needed, it should be given in a small cup or spoon, rather than a bottle and should only be used to supplement breastfeeding.

Since the program's inception, approximately 15,000 facilities in more than 152 countries have been inspected and accredited as "Baby-Friendly."

For more information on the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative please click here.