1511cf66_all_To_Action_on_Breastfeeding__Topic
[ID] 816 [Interest Areas] Concerned Citizen [Comment] I am an American citizen who has been living in Copenhagen, Denmark for the past year and a half. I consider myself very fortunate to have given birth in a Danish hospital which has the WHO Baby-Friendly certification. (See http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/bfhi/en/index.html for complete text on the guidelines.) I wonder why hospitals in the U.S. do not follow these same principles? Thanks to the WHO Baby Friendly guidelines, I believe I had a very good support in becoming a successful breastfeeding mother. I think the single most important guideline that U.S. hospitals need to adopt immediately and wholeheartedly is compliance with the international code of marketing and breast-milk substitutes. In a nutshell, free samples of baby formula should not be distributed in a hospital or in pediatrician's office. Further, even nipple shields or pacifiers can be a hindrance to developing good breast feeding practices in the crucial hours and weeks after birth; hospitals should not give these out under any circumstances. Next, I think it is extremely important that a newborn child be given the opportunity to breast feed from its mother immediately following birth. In my case, the hospital staff placed my daughter on my chest, helped me guide her to my breast, and allowed my baby and I to explore breastfeeding in an unpressured setting for the first two hours after birth. Weighing, cleaning, etc. was postponed until after the first feeding, and all procedures were conducted in the same room with mother and father present. The baby was never whisked away to a nursery for or other location for any reason; she was in my immediate care for our entire 48-hour hospital stay and I was encouraged to feed the baby on-demand around the clock so that my milk supply was quickly established. I know new mothers who unfortunately did not receive the same type of hospital care and guidance. They were given nipple shields, ointments and pacifiers at the hospital, and their babies were not able to establish good suckling wit the breast. In other cases, the baby was not able to have a first feed with its mother immediately after birth. It then became an uphill battle to teach the baby how to suckle in the days after birth. The birth process should be viewed by hospitals as a natural event, not a sickness needing to be treated, and as such mothers should be given plenty of time and support to develop positive breast-feeding practices with their children. I hope my comments will help the US to develop more baby-friendly practices so that other new mothers can have the same positive experiences with breastfeeding that I have had. Sincerely, Jane Olson US Citizen Copenhagen, Denmark [Topic] 
Maternal and Infant Care Practices: Prenatal, Hospital, and Post-Delivery Care
Call To Action on Breastfeeding
Topic