World Breastfeeding Week Aug. 1-7, 2010

World Breastfeeding Week Aug. 1-7, 2010

WBW 2010 Rationale

• Health care facilities play a vital role in the establishment of breastfeeding.
• The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding provide a supportive pathway enabling women to achieve their breastfeeding intentions and guiding the training of healthcare workers in breastfeeding support.
• World Breastfeeding Week this year commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Innocenti Declaration that called for implementation of the Ten Steps in all maternity facilities.
• During these 20 years, more than 20,000 maternities, or about 28% of all maternities in the world, have fully implemented the Ten Steps and have been certified by the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI).
• During this time, rates of exclusive breastfeeding have increased significantly.
• However, reduced BFHI programming worldwide, inadequate training, and weakened compliance with the Ten Steps in accredited maternities are contributing to stagnant or declining exclusive breastfeeding rates in many settings.
• It is time to revisit this approach and to determine where we must go from here.

WBW 2010 Objectives

Join the World in Breastfeeding Action this year!

• Draw attention to the role of the Ten Steps in improving breastfeeding rates.
• Renew action by health systems, health care providers and communities to make breastfeeding the easy choice for women.
• Inform people everywhere of the risks of artificial feeding, and the role of breastfeeding for children’s development and lifelong health and the health of mothers.
• Enable mothers to enjoy full support for breastfeeding in health care systems and beyond.