How many medical facilities in Belarus have the status of "Child Friendly Hospitals"

March 23, MINSK. Certificates were presented to the participants of the international initiative "Child Friendly Hospital" in Minsk, BelTA informs.

In 1989, WHO raised the technical issue of promoting breastfeeding. Subsequently, UNICEF also supported him. Since 1991, the Baby Friendly Hospital initiative has spread throughout the world. it is very important that this is not only a medical, it is a social and even a state initiative. It aims to create an enabling environment that helps parents develop the skills to manage and support exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months and continued breastfeeding for the next two years or more.

According to experts, breastfeeding is a significant element in establishing a psycho-emotional connection between mother and child, which improves the development of the baby in the future.

As the HEAD of the WHO country office in Belarus, Sergei Diorditsa, it is very important to promote the practice of breastfeeding, because it has been scientifically confirmed that breastfeeding has a very beneficial effect on the child. “In 2018, the global guidelines for this initiative were updated to include ten key rules that the hospital must follow. And in accordance with these rules, physicians should do everything to orient the mother to breastfeed. Formula should only be used as a last resort when it is no longer possible to feed a child with your own MILK or donor milk. All other practices that the hospital conducts must also meet these international requirements," he said.

Institutions that meet these requirements are designated as "Baby Friendly Hospitals". Today in Minsk, the Republican Scientific and Practical Center "Mother and Child", the 1st and 5th city clinical hospitals, as well as the City Clinical Maternity Hospital No. 2 have such a status. In Belarus, 31 healthcare institutions have this status.