Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative

The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global program that assists hospitals in giving mothers the information, confidence, and skills necessary to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding or safely feed with formula, and gives special recognition to hospitals that prioritize this education. The BFHI was started by the World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund in 1991 as a way to encourage the broad-scale implementation of and the "Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding" (below) and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.  The accrediting body and national authority for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in the United States, is Baby-Friendly USA (BFUSA).

At the Oklahoma Breastfeeding Resource Center (OBRC), we help facilitate a state-wide effort called "Becoming Baby-Friendly in Oklahoma" (BBFOK). Our goal is to help Oklahoma hospitals improve maternity care and increase the number of "Baby-Friendly" hospitals in Oklahoma. This initiative is funded by the Oklahoma State Department of Health through the Maternal and Child Health Service. Partners include the Oklahoma Hospital Association, Oklahoma Health Care Authority, Office of Perinatal Quality Improvement, and University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 

BENEFITS TO JOINING BBFOK

OBRC will support you, your staff and facility leaders throughout your journey to becoming Baby-Friendly in Oklahoma through various ways, including: Assistance and guidance throughout your journey to become Baby-Friendly, Free in-person staff breastfeeding trainings, Discount for OBRC"s 15-hour online training for hospital staff, National recognition for Baby-Friendly Designation, and reimbursements up to $9,500 of the fees paid to BFUSA, Additionally, as part of the continuing care to help Oklahoma hospitals on their baby-friendly journey, OBRC frequently provides webinars on various topics related to the Ten Steps of Successful Breastfeeding as well as other topics of interest to the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.

See every webinar and their slides here!

See every webinar on our YouTube channel here!

STARTING YOUR BBFOK JOURNEY IS EASY AS 1, 2, 3!

1. Sign up with OBRC to participate in the BBFOK project (No cost!)
2. Begin implementing the 10 steps to successful breastfeeding
3. Register with Baby-Friendly USA

CDC surveys breastfeeding practices in the United States to monitor progress over time and identify priority areas that need attention. The National Immunization Survey (NIS) uses random-digit dialing to survey US households with children and teens. It provides current national, state, selected local level, and some US territory estimates of vaccination coverage rates for US children aged 19 to 35 months, teens aged 13 to 17 years, and flu vaccinations for children aged 6 months to 17 years. Since July 2001, breastfeeding questions have been asked on the NIS and are used to monitor breastfeeding rates at both national and state levels by birth year. All respondents with children aged 19 to 35 months are asked the breastfeeding questions. Source: https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/nis_data/index.htm