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Mother-Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Program

last updated Feb 8, 2012

Overview

Implementing organization: 
Department of Health, UNICEF
Legal Status: 
State/government
Year Launched: 
1992
Stage: 
Existing/expansion stage
Income Level of Target Population: 
All income levels

Funding

Primary Source of Funding: 
Government
Additional Source(s) of Funding: 
Donor
Summary: 

The Mother-Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative of the Department of Health was launched in 1992 in line with the RA 7600 or the Rooming-in and Breastfeeding Act of 1992. In this law, all private and government private hospitals offering maternity and newborn care may be accredited as Mother-Baby Friendly if they implement the 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding adopted from UNICEF/WHO criteria.

Program goals/rationale: 

Prolonged breastfeeding duration has been proven to protect infants against different infectious and chronic diseases. It also plays an important role in their cognitive development. Similarly, early initiated breastfeeding gives protection to infants from infectious diseases since the first milk or ‘colostrum’ contains ample amount of antibodies. This is contrary to the traditional belief that it is harmful for the infant. In some areas in the Philippines, it is considered as 'dirty milk' which has to be discarded Many health organizations now recommend prolonged, exclusive and early initiated breastfeeding as optimal breastfeeding practices.

Despite its recognized health benefits, breastfeeding practices throughout the world remain suboptimal. In the Philippines, only 64% of infants are breastfed for more than six months and only 54% are breastfed within the first hour of life.

In 2003, the infant mortality was 29 per 1000 live births. Improvements in the health status of infants and young through exclusive and extended breastfeeding as well as complementary feeding after 6 months will significantly contribute to the achievement of the MDGs.

Key program components: 

The program aims to facilitate breastfeeding in private hospital and help mothers and newborns to start breastfeeding soon after birth. In the mid-1990s, DOH accredited 83% of 1,700 targeted hospitals.

However, UNICEF recently reported concerns over several issues with regard to MBFHI sustainability. It is indicated in the UNICEF study that most of the accredited hospitals deviated from the guidelines set by DOH. It was argued that the poor compliance can be attributed to the strong pressure from formula milk companies and the “re-engineering” of DOH key officials. The abridged accreditation tool was also raised since this may shorten or alter the accreditation process.

To address these shortcomings, the Department of Health issued administrative order 2009-0026 which revitalizes the MBHFI guidelines. This includes incorporation of MBFHI to PhilHealth accreditation tool. In addition, trainings and other forms of capacity building to be facilitated by regional DOH offices was also articulated.

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