Perspectives about the baby friendly hospital/health initiative in Australia: an online survey

Anahita Esbati; Jane A Taylor; Amanda J Henderson; Margaret Barnes; Lauren Kearney

doi:10.1186/s13006-020-00266-z

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Perspectives about the baby friendly hospital/health initiative in Australia: an online survey

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Perspectives about the baby friendly hospital/health initiative in Australia: an online survey

Anahita Esbati, Jane A Taylor, Amanda J Henderson, Margaret Barnes and Lauren Kearney

International Breastfeeding Journal, Vol.15, 23 (2020)

2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13006-020-00266-z

Appears in UniSC Diversity and Inclusion Research Collection

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Abstract

BFHI

uptake

implementation

maternity facilities

Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes

breastfeeding

UniSC Diversity Area - Life Stages

Background: Evidence supports the health and economic benefits of breastfeeding, and the positive impact of the Baby Friendly Health Initiative (BFHI) on increasing breastfeeding rates and improving breastfeeding outcomes. The BFHI is a World Health Organization and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund initiative to promote, support and maintain breastfeeding. The BFHI was updated in 2018 and includes the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding (the Ten Steps 2018) and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the WHO Code). Despite policy and guideline support for breastfeeding and the BFHI, there are currently only 70 accredited hospitals, healthcare centres and regional clusters in Australia, accounting for 23% of maternity facilities. This research aimed to explore health professionals and other stakeholders' perspectives on the uptake and implementation of the BFHI in Australia from an organisational change perspective. Methods: An online survey administered via relevant Australian-based professional associations was fully or partially completed by 332 participants who support mothers and newborns in their roles. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyse quantitative and qualitative data. Results: The majority of participants supported legislating the WHO Code, closely monitoring BFHI compliance, ensuring sufficient knowledge about breastfeeding and the BFHI among staff, improving care within maternity facilities, continuous support of mothers' post-discharge, and improving social media support of breastfeeding. It was also perceived that an interdisciplinary team approach and multidisciplinary involvement were important requirements for successfully implementing the BFHI. There was no consensus among participants that Australian health policies support breastfeeding and the implementation of the BFHI. Conclusions: This study emphasised the significance of legislation around the Code, executive and leadership support and culture, and providing adequate resources concerning uptake and implementation of the BFHI. Considering that uptake of the BFHI has been limited and no formal government support has been provided to further develop the BFHI and support the Code in Australia, findings of this research may help with potential future actions to facilitate the BFHI uptake and Code implementation.

Details

Title: Perspectives about the baby friendly hospital/health initiative in Australia: an online survey
Authors: Anahita Esbati (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Jane A Taylor (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Amanda J Henderson (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Margaret Barnes (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Lauren Kearney (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Publication details: International Breastfeeding Journal, Vol.15, 23 (2020)
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
Date published: 2020
DOI: 10.1186/s13006-020-00266-z
ISSN: 1746-4358
Copyright note: Copyright © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Nursing; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health and Sport Sciences - Legacy; School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine - Legacy; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy; School of Health - Midwifery; School of Health - Public Health
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450822902621
Output Type: Journal article

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