Assessment of two selected hospitals' breastfeeding policy in support of the Mother-Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative MBFHI

• Main Author: Ampongan, Alain de Jesus
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1997
• Subjects: Breast feeding; Public health; Medical policy; Hospital and community; Community health services; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/1793
• Institution: De La Salle University

This is a descriptive-comparative study on the Mother-Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (MBFHI). It is a program of the Department of Health of the Republic of the Philippines which aims to implement the internationally set policies known as the 10 Steps to Successful Breast Feeding. Two hospitals were selected, one government and the other privately-owned and operated. Described in this study were (1) the policies of the two hospitals in support of the MBFHI and (2) the social and organizational dynamics which occur in the process of implementing the said program. It was concluded that although both hospitals complied with the same steps or principles of breast feeding, they had differences in terms of how the MBFHI were implemented in their respective institutions. Notable among such differences is the organizational behavior or culture in the two hospitals. The private hospital and its staff was found to be more accommodating than their government counterpart which affects the delivery of maternal services in different ways. The MBFHI, being seemingly utopian despite being a program aimed at promoting, supporting and protecting a natural human process, still needs a lot of support not only from within and among hospital personnel but from all sectors. This means that education on the advantages and management of breast feeding should not be limited only among mothers and pregnant women. Nor should education be implemented only within the hospital setting but must also be implemented in coordination with elements at the community level in order to enable program implementors to follow-up the progress of infant mother-couples even beyond delivery and discharge. Lastly, lack of accommodation as an organizational characteristic within hospitals suggest that the said program must also be promoted well and consistent enough among health care workers.