The Baby-Friendly™ Initiative

The Baby-Friendly™ Initiative (BFI) is an international program developed by WHO/UNICEF for the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding as a strategy aimed at increasing the health and well-being of children and families.

Objectives:

• To enable mothers to make an informed decision about how to feed their newborns.
• To support early initiation of breastfeeding.
• To promote exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months.
• To ensure the cessation of free and low cost infant formula supply to hospitals;
• To include, possibly at a later stage and where needed, other mother and infant health care issues.

This is a global network that aims to give every baby the best start in life by creating a health care environment where breastfeeding is the norm, thus helping to reduce the levels of infant morbidity and mortality in each country.

In Canada, the initiative is known as the Baby-Friendly™ Initiative (BFI) to include all forms of community support and involvement.

Hospitals follow the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, and Public Health Services follow the Seven Point Plan.

For more information about the The Baby-Friendly™ Initiative in Canada, visit http://www.breastfeedingcanada.ca/html/bfi.html

For more information about the The Baby-Friendly™ Initiative in Saskatchewan, click here.