Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding

At UMC Health System, we use care practices that improve the health of both mothers and babies. One of these care practices is ensuring mothers leave UMC Family Birth Center confident in their breastfeeding abilities. This facility upholds the World Health Organization/UNICEF Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, as described in the Baby-Friendly USA Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria.

Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding

This facility upholds the World Health Organization/UNICEF Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, as described in the Baby-Friendly USA Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria.

Every facility providing maternity services and care for newborn infants should:

1. Comply fully with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and relevant World Health Assembly resolutions.
2. Have a written infant feeding policy that is routinely communicated to staff and parents.
3. Establish ongoing monitoring and data-management systems.

The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding form the basis of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, a worldwide breastfeeding quality improvement project created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Baby-Friendly hospitals and birth centers also uphold the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes by offering parents support, education, and educational materials that promote the use of human milk rather than other infant food or drinks, and by refusing to accept or distribute free or subsidized supplies of breast milk substitutes, nipples, and other feeding devices.