Part Two-The Ten Steps to being a Mother-Friendly Hospital

1.Have a written breastfeeding policy 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 a half-hour of birth;

5.Show mothers how to breast feed and how to maintain lactation even if they should be separated from their infants;

6.Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk unless medically indicated;

7.Practice rooming in: allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day;

8.Encourage breastfeeding on demand;

9.Give no artificial teat 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 hospitals or clinics.

For more information about CIMS, check out their web site at http://www.healthy.net/cims.

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