commitment to improve maternal care, especially breastfeeding rates. Breda Murphy, Infant Feeding Lead at Kingston Hospital, spoke about the care provided to mother and baby. She said, “We set out to ensure that all mothers and babies are supported to form a close and loving relationship – whatever their choice of feeding method – as this is the best start for every baby”.
As part of a larger worldwide collaboration between UNICEF and the World Health Organization, UNICEF’s Baby Friendly project is a global campaign with the ambition to provide quality healthcare for infants, their mothers, and their families. In the United Kingdom, the initiative collaborates with government agencies to improve families to feed and build close, loving connections with the newborns, ensuring that all infants have the greatest possible start in life. The award is granted to hospitals that demonstrate compliance with internationally recognized best practice standards following an evaluation by a UNICEF UK team.
Gina Brockwell, Director of Midwifery, Kingston Hospital, attributed the success to the hospital maternity staff. She said, “We are so grateful to all of the maternity staff whose amazing efforts have allowed us to achieve this award. They have worked tirelessly during a difficult period in healthcare to provide high quality care for women and their families in their chosen method of feeding”.
Sue Ashmore, Director of UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative Programme, expressed delight over the achievement. She also spoke about the hospital’s initiative to support breastfeeding. She said, “We are delighted that Kingston Hospital has achieved full Baby Friendly status. Our work to support breastfeeding is based on extensive and resounding evidence that breastfeeding saves lives, improves health and cuts costs in every country worldwide, rich and poor alike. Mothers at Kingston Hospital can be confident that their midwives will provide high standards of care”.
According to WHO, one of the most effective strategies to guarantee child health and survival is breastfeeding. However, roughly two out of every three newborns globally are not breastfed completely for the six months as recommended by the organization, which is the minimum duration that has remained constant over the previous two decades.
