The ten steps UNICEF-OMS - breastfeeding

Establish a written protocol for breastfeeding to be known by all health care personnel

Fully comply with the International Code and subsequent resolutions. Establish a written protocol for breastfeeding to be known by all health care personnel and families. Establish a system to monitor practices and rates.

Prepare all healthcare personnel to fully implement this protocol

Ensure providers have the knowledge, skills and abilities to support breastfeeding.

Inform all pregnant women of the benefits and modalities of breastfeeding

Discuss the importance and management of 'breastfeeding with pregnant women and their families.

Helping mothers to start breastfeeding as early as half an hour after birth

Facilitate immediate and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact after birth and support mothers to begin breastfeeding as soon as possible after birth.

Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to continue breastfeeding even if they are separated from their newborns

Support mothers to initiate and maintain breastfeeding and manage common difficulties.

Do not give an infant any food or drink that is not breast milk, unless there is a doctor's prescription to the contrary

Do not give a nursing infant any liquid or food other than breast milk unless medically indicated.

Placing infants in the same rooms as their mothers so they spend 24 hours together

Get mothers and babies to be together and practice rooming-in 24 hours a day.

Encourage breastfeeding on demand (without rigid schedules)

Do not give artificial teats to infants during the breastfeeding period.

Inform mothers about the use and risks of bottles, nipples, and pacifiers.

Promote collaboration between facility staff, the local area, support groups, and the local community to create support networks to which mothers can be referred upon discharge from the hospital.

Coordinate discharge so that parents and children have access to ongoing support and help.