The UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative Briefing Paper 2009

Scotland
Number of hospitals with full Baby Friendly accreditation: 12
Number of hospitals with other stages of Baby Friendly accreditation: 14
Percentage of births in Baby Friendly Hospitals: 53.4 per cent
Scotland has the highest level of participation in the UNICEF UK Baby
Friendly Initiative of any UK nation with more than 40 per cent of
Scottish maternity units having achieved the UNICEF award. Half of all
Scottish babies are born in a UNICEF Baby Friendly accredited
maternity unit, which has led 70 per cent of new mothers in Scotland
to start breastfeeding their baby. Data on all babies born between 1995
and 2002 in Scottish maternity units with more than 50 births per year,
shows that babies born in Baby Friendly hospitals are 28 per cent more
likely to be exclusively breastfed at seven days postnatal age than
babies born in other hospitals.
Support for breastfeeding is a key strand of the Scottish Government’s
early years work. NHS Boards in Scotland have been set a
performance target to increase the number of babies who are
exclusively breastfed at 6-8 weeks by 25 per cent by the year 2010/11.
In September 2008, the Scottish Government provided NHS Boards
with £19 million over three years to improve the nutrition of women of
childbearing age, pregnant women and children under the age of five
living in areas of deprivation. It is expected a proportion of this
allocation will be used by NHS Boards to assist in achieving the health
improvement target on breastfeeding. Furthermore, the Scottish
Government is funding a Baby Friendly Initiative Professional Officer
post for Scotland for the next two years.
Northern Ireland
Number of hospitals with full Baby Friendly accreditation: 4
Number of hospitals with other stages of Baby Friendly accreditation: 5
Percentage of births in Baby Friendly Hospitals: 27.6 per cent
Approximately 28 per cent of births in Northern Ireland take place in
Baby Friendly hospitals. A breastfeeding strategy was introduced in
1999 and Northern Ireland was the first of the UK nations to fund a
Baby Friendly Initiative Professional Officer post to help improve
breastfeeding rates. Northern Ireland’s Department of Health Social
Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) funded a public information
campaign on breastfeeding in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009.
"It has boosted staff morale,
when hearing positive
comments that women have
made regarding our
breastfeeding support."
Midwife, Vale of Leven
Hospital, Scotland
Breastfeeding initiation at Altnagelvin
Area Hospital and Foyle HSS Trusts,
Londonderry rose from 33 per cent in 1996,
to 44 per cent on accreditation in 2001.
It increased a further 7 per cent by
re-assessment in 2003.
Anniesland, Bearsden & Milngavie Local
Health Care Cooperative, Glasgow reported
its breastfeeding initiation rate rising from 75
per cent to 83 per cent in the 12 months prior
to accreditation in 2003.
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The UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative Improving the health of the UK