The Flin Flon Primary Care Centre received a Baby Friendly designation from the Breastfeeding Committee for Canada late last month.
The designation is a way of identifying the centre as providing heath services that meet global best practices and standards of care for infant and young child feeding, based on current scientific evidence and guidelines.
“Services must provide factual information and support for pregnant women and mothers,” said Linda Romphf, an international board certified lactation consultant and co-chair of Baby Friendly Manitoba.
“As well, they must ensure mothers who decide not to breastfeed are supported in their decision, and provided with unbiased information and guidance.”
Receiving the designation takes a dedicated effort from both staff and local volunteers. In order to achieve it, ten steps set out by the World Health Organization, (WHO) including having a written breastfeeding policy and showing mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation must be achieved.
“When the facility goes through the indicators, they often review and revise longstanding policies, procedures and staff and parent teaching,” said Romphf.
“They carefully keep records of any and exclusive breastfeeding and on those who are not breastfeeding on entry to their services, and at regular intervals after that, generally at 48 hours and at six months. Those facilities who provide immunization (like Flin Flon) often record this data at every immunization point within the first two years of life. When audits or surveys show an 80 per cent compliance with each step and with the WHO Code for Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes then a facility may apply to start the designation process.”
The process is lengthy, and Flin Flon’s Primary Health Care Centre is just the third health centre in the province to receive the designation – centres in The Pas and Steinbach also carry the Baby Friendly claim. However, Romphf says centres in each region in Manitoba are currently implementing the steps necessary to receive the designation.
“It is just a matter of time before we see more designations.”
