Alan Blyth Hospital celebrated its international Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) accreditation by hosting a ceremony on Monday, 13 February 2012.
The BFHI is a global campaign launched in 1992 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and is based on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. Maternity facilities are assessed using globally established criteria and those that meet all of the criteria may be accredited as baby-friendly. In South Africa, the BFHI was launched in 1994 and St Monica's Maternity Hospital in Cape Town was the first hospital to be accredited as baby-friendly. Nineteen hospitals in the Western Cape Province have received this accreditation.
At the ceremony, also attended by the Mayor of Ladismith and other councillors, Western Cape Health Minister Theuns Botha said, "For a small hospital in a rural town, this is a globally recognised achievement of which both parents and professionals can be proud of. The accreditation will benefit the whole community, also in the long term, and is an outstanding example that when the community works together with the health services that government offers, we are better together."
Minister Botha said the Western Cape has 74 public and private hospitals with maternity wards, of which only 19 boasts the BFHI accreditation. Seventeen of the 19 are public hospitals. The accreditation requires an understanding of quality care to mothers and newborn babies, and a commitment to the acknowledged benefits of breastfeeding.
Alan Blyth Hospital scored only three out of the ten points with their first internal evaluation and one out of three for applying successful breastfeeding. With determination and hard work from all staff, the hospital was awarded with the status in November 2010.
In the Western Cape Province, BFHI (Child health) is one of the eight common goals that are set as priority by the Department of Health. It is also a measure of the quality of care. All facilities that render services to mothers and babies are thus challenged to make the BFHI a reality. The BFHI supports the right of mothers to choose how to feed and care for their babies. Healthcare professionals have the responsibility to care, encourage best practice and to ensure that parents are given appropriate, accurate and unbiased information to allow them to make fully informed choices. In the interest of supporting informed choice, all educational materials used in baby-friendly facilities are expected to comply with the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes.
The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding are:
Breastfeeding is acknowledged to be the best way of feeding and caring for infants and is important for infant development, while also providing benefits to the mother. Research findings on the introduction of BFHI in health facilities have shown a reduction in infant mortality, particularly as a result of diarrhoea and respiratory infection.
Nadia Ferreira
Principal Communications Officer: Eden District
Tel: 044 803 2725
Cell: 076 379 5423
E-mail: nferreira@westerncape.gov.za