The Baby-Friendly Initiative ensures the best possible care within health services for all mothers and babies, whether babies are breastfed or formula-fed. It includes the World Health Organization Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes for hospitals and community health services to follow as best practice.
At Public Health, we:
- Support your right to make an informed decision about how you feed your baby, and support the decision you make
- Encourage you to breastfeed
- Promote breastfeeding as the healthiest way to feed your baby
- Welcome breastfeeding in all areas of our service – let us know if you want your own quiet space
- Work to make sure that breastfeeding is welcome everywhere in our community
- Give you information about how to safely prepare formula, if you decide to formula feed
We do not:
- Allow formula to be advertised in our agency
- Give out formula or bottles
How we help you breastfeed your baby
At Public Health, we:
- Offer prenatal breastfeeding education in-person and online to give you information and the confidence to breastfeed
- Offer breastfeeding clinics
- Offer you a home visit if you need support
- Train our public health nurses, nutritionists and family visitors to support you
- Check how your breastfeeding is going – we can give you help as your baby grows
- Talk with you about breastfeeding and answer your questions
- Offer you written information to take home
- Show you how to express your breastmilk by hand and/or use a breast pump
- Help you know when your baby is ready for other foods (at 6 months)
- Give you phone numbers of people you can call for more help and support
- Help you understand when your baby’s hungry
We encourage you to:
- Keep your baby skin-to-skin immediately after birth until your baby feeds or as long as you want
- Keep your baby near you so you can get to know each other
- Feed your baby when he or she is hungry
- Avoid using bottles or pacifiers while breastfeeding
- Feed your baby only breastmilk until he or she is 6 months old (if you’re told your baby needs other food or drink before this, ask why)
- Introduce solid foods at 6 months and continue to breastfeed for 2 years and beyond