The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative was developed by WHO and UNICEF to promote breastfeeding in maternity wards worldwide. The authors have investigated the evidence of the impact of the Initiative, particularly related to their homeland of Latin America where they have found the Initiative to be highly cost-effective.
Breastfeeding trends over the past two decades strongly suggest that the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative has had a positive impact on breastfeeding outcomes. The authors report that Step 10 has proven to be one of the most challenging Steps to be addressed however there is growing evidence to indicate that peer counseling is a very efficacious tool for increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates in the community setting.
Rafael Perez-Escamilla. Evidence based breastfeeding promotion: The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. Journal of Nutrition 2007; 137(2): p. 484-487
