BACKGROUND The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) has been implemented in Ghana since 1995. At the end of 2011, about 325 maternity facilities in Ghana had been designated Baby Friendly. However, none had been re-assessed for adherence to the Ten Steps to successful breastfeeding (Ten Steps). The current study re-assessed six maternity facilities in Accra for adherence to the Ten Steps an...

BACKGROUND The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) seeks to support breastfeeding initiation in maternity services. This study uses country-level data to examine the relationship between BFHI programming and trends in exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) in 14 developing countries. METHODS Demographic and Health Surveys and UNICEF BFHI Reports provided EBF and BFHI data. Because country program...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) on breast-feeding initiation and duration overall and according to maternal education. DESIGN Quasi-experimental study using data from five states (Alaska, Maine, Nebraska, Ohio, Washington) that participated in the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System from 1999 to 2009. Using differences-in-differences mo...

OBJECTIVE To investigate how the 4thStep of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative was applied, assess the prevalence of breastfeeding (BF) within the first hour after birth and analyze factors associated with non-BF in this period of life. METHODS Cross-sectional study conducted in a high-risk maternity-hospital in Rio de Janeiro City, Brazil, with interview to a sample of 403 rooming-in moth...