Dear friends: Thanks to our wonderful friends in ORIGEM Brasil, here is the
text of this year's Action Folder for World Breastfeeding Week. If you have
any burning issues about wanting to change it, you would need to get in
touch with WABA directly via FAX (their email is out), but it would need to
be almost immediately because they are about to go to press. Best regards.
Judy Canahuati
>Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 20:35:15 -0300
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>From: Denise Arcoverde <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Action folder em ingles
>
>World Breastfeeding Week
>1-7 August 1996
>
>A woman's choice about how best to feed her child is a personal one.
>However, as no woman lives in isolation, her decision is influenced by
>many factors. Family members, health workers, the media, religious
>institutions, social traditions, the work place and her own education can
>all have a bearing on her decision to breastfeed - as well as her ability
>to continue breastfeeding for the optimal length of time.
>
>Every woman should be able to count on full support from those around
>her to enable her to initiate and sustain breastfeeding. It is the
>responsibility of the entire community to see that the best possible
>nutrition and health is available to all of its members, beginning with
>its youngest.
>A community is the people nearby - in the family, neighbourhood, at
>work, and in the town.' People all around join to support the
>breastfeeding mother. Women feel supported when the community welcomes
>them to breastfeed in public, provides help to overcome difficulties,
>offers facilities to breastfeed at the work place; and when health
>professionals take an ethical stand against the promotion of breastmilk
>substitutes and use their influential power to support women to breastfeed.
>
>The theme for World Breastfeeding Week 1996, "Breastfeeding: A Community
>Responsibility" provides an opportunity for us all to evaluate our own
>communities and the attitudes expressed, to see if we are indeed supportive
>of breastfeeding.
>
>In this action folder, designed to give you some solid ideas about WBW
>activities that you can organise in your own community, we will explore the
>"Triple-A" model for advocacy.
>
>Assessment
>Analysis
>Action
>
>
>The Triple A Approach
>
>The "Triple A" model is very logical. The approach of "Assess, Analyse,
>Act" is also known as "Look-Think-Do".
>
>Assess - Look
>
>First, ASSESS, or look at the situation around you. Talk to people
>about how infant feeding decisions are made - talk not only with
>mothers, but with health workers and family members. Find out just how
>far support for breastfeeding goes in health care facilities and in the
>work place. Try to establish how much people really understand about the
>importance of breastfeeding, not just for the child and the mother,
>but for the entire community.
>
>Analyse - Think
>
>Once you have gathered your impressions, ANALYSE or think about what you
>have discovered. Are there gaps? Contradictions? Is there
>misinformation? Prejudice? Also look at your positive findings. Are
>there any areas that work very well? What makes them so successful?
>Which practices or people help mothers to breastfeed?
> Act - Do
>
>Design activities based on what you have found. If
>misinformation exists, organise training programmes to set it right. If
>support groups for breastfeeding mothers do not exist, see if you or a
>local organisation might start one. Talk to decision-makers in health
>facilities, religious and educational institutions and government to point
>out the gaps and work with them to design ways to fill the gaps.
>
>ASSESSMENT
>
>Talk about breastfeeding and listen to what is said.
>
>Look around your community. Everybody from shopkeepers to religious
>leaders, factory owners to policy makers can help to ensure that
>children can benefit from breastfeeding. The following sectors of
>your community can play a role in influencing attitudes and promoting
>child health. Talk to people to learn about how they see breastfeeding.
>Use the questions on page 5 as a guideline, though you may choose to
>modify the questions to suit your particular situation. The
>sample questions are designed to help you gather information, perhaps by
>making up a checklist or writing down your observations. The
>"assessment process" tells you what is going on. In conducting this
>exploration, refrain from judgment. You will have time for this in the
>analysis phase.
>
>ASSESS YOUR COMMUNITY: Survey Questions
>
>SCHOOL
>
>How do young people learn about breastfeeding?
>
>How early do the influences begin?
>
>Do dolls in children's pre-school play area come with bottles?
>
>Do middle schools and high school cover breastfeeding in biology classes?
>
>Is there support for young mothers who continue to attend school?
>
>RESTAURANTS/PUBLIC PLACES/BUSINESSES
>
>Does a women feel comfortable breastfeeding her baby in public?
>
>Do staff members at restaurants understand that babies, too, must have their
>meals?
>
>Do shops selling breastmilk substitutes have any understanding of the Code?
>
>WORK PLACE
>
>How baby-friendly is the work place?
>
>Is there on-site crhche?
>
>Are women allowed breaks for breastfeeding?
>
>Are clean and private facilities available for women who choose to express
>milk?
>
>RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS
>
>Is breastfeeding understood and supported by religious leaders?
>
>Does the institution encourage breastfeeding support groups by lending its
>space or
>helping to organise meetings?
>
>Are breastfeeding women made to feel welcome at religious services?
>
>SOCIAL GROUPS/ CLUBS/ ORGANISATIONS
>
>Do any clubs or social organisations in your community offer
>breastfeeding support groups?
>
>How are breeastfeeding support organisations promoted?
>
>FAMILY
>
>Do family members understand the need to pitch in with household chores
>when a mother is breastfeeding?
>
>Do they realise that a breastfeeding mother needs extra food and extra rest?
>
>Do grandmothers and mothers-in-law appreciate and support the decision
>made by the mothers?
>
>Do fathers understands that there are many opportunities for bonding
>in addition to feeding an infant, such as bathing, cuddling and burping?
>
>MEDIA
>
>How are breastfeeding issues presented in the press?
>
>What about television programmes?
>
>Have any daytime or prime series raised the issue of infant feeding?
>
>Are any local celebrities known to breastfeed?
>
>Do infant formula manufacturers advertise in publications, on the air or on
>outdoor media (billboards, public transit, etc.) ?
>
>GOVERNMENT
>
>Is there a national breastfeeding committee?
>
>Does the ministry of Health have any policies regarding breastfeeding?
>
>Do welfare mothers receive support for breastfeeding in the form of extra
>food? 0
>
>HEALTH FACILITIES/ HEALTH WORKERS
>
>Are the hospitals and Maternity Clinics in your community
baby-friendly?
>
>Is breastfeeding discussed at pre-natal programmes?
>
>How informed are members of the staff? Is there any post-natal support
>for breastfeeding, particularly once a women has returned to her home?
>
>Does the hospital accept free supplies of breastmilk substitutes or
>distribute sample to mothers?
>
>Can a woman who is having trouble breastfeeding turn to the health
>facility for help?
>
>Schools
>
>Most children are not exposed to breastfeeding or any form of
>breastfeeding instructions in school. A teenage mother will receive little
>support in breastfeeding from her school. Medical curriculum gives
>little or no attention to the science and practice of breastfeeding
>
>Religious Institutions
>
>Breastfeeding is approved as a family planning method in many cultures
>and religions. In Buddhist tradition, the father is responsible for
>providing the best nutrition for the mother while she is breastfeeding.
>The Quran specifies that a baby be breastfed for two years with the
>health of the mother a priority.
>
>Media
>
>Radio, television and newspapers have powerful influences on our opinions
>and relationships with others. We can work with the media create
>supportive environments for breastfeeding. In Slovakia, a magazine
>called Child has agreed to publish one article about breastfeeding in
>each issue provided by the breastfeeding NGO Pro Vita. In South Africa
>a cartoon booklet 'Maria's New Baby' designed to promote the benefits of
>breastfeeding has been adapted into radio script. In Sweden, sports
>celebrities are helping to promote breastfeeding with a famous hockey
>player and his family appearing on a poster with the caption
>"Breastfeeding: the best goal!" Some parents and family magazines no longer
>advertise breastmilk substitutes, although images of bottles are slower to
>disappear.
>
>Restaurants/ Business/ Public places
>
>Breastfeeding in public is often met with disapproval.
>Breastfeeding is a woman's right and a child's right. Pioneering steps to
>make it acceptable are vital. In 1994, UNICEF commended a US restaurant
>for encouraging women to breastfeed. At the
>Soekarno International Airport in Indonesia, the feeding bottle symbol has
>been replaced with an image of a breastfeeding mother.
>
>A bank in Brazil produced a credit card for members of the National
>Pediatric Society featuring a colour photograph of a breastfeeding infant.
>
>Work Place
>
>The International Labour Organisation's minimum standards require 12 weeks
>of maternity leave with cash benefits amounting to at least 66% of
>previous earnings, prohibition of dismissal during maternity leave, and
>once a woman has returned to work, two half-hour breastfeeding breaks
>during each working day. The 1990 'Innocenti Declaration' and 1995 '
>Platform for Action' from the UN World Conference on Women, called on all
>governments to protect the breastfeeding rights of working women.
>
>Employees in countries such as Guatemala, Swaziland and Mauritius have set
>up crhches for breastfeeding babies setting an example to other employers
>to become for mother-friendly work places.
>
>FAMILY
>
>A survey of 115 UK mothers has shown that the partner's attitude to
>breastfeeding is the biggest factor influencing feeding decisions. If the
>father approved of breastfeeding, three quarters of infants were totally
>breastfed; if the father was indifferent or disapproving, the proportion
>fell to less than 10%. Other members of the family and friends, a new
>mother's mother may also have a positive influence by being
>supportive.
>
>Breastfeeding Improves Household Food Security
>Breastfeeding is total food security for infants up to 6 months of age. The
>per cent of an average annual urban wages required to purchase a
>one-year supply of infant formula for one child:
>
>Kenya: 45%
>India: 50%
>Nigeria: 260%
>
>An important calculatioin which has often been ignored, is that of the
>contribution to the World's food supply of human milk. Millions of tonnes
>of breastmilk would be added if infants were fed this in their first 4-6
>months and were continued to be breastfed, right through their second year.
>
>GOVERNMENT
>
>The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes requires
>that no words or pictures idealising artificial feeding, including
>pictures of infants on labels of products and that unsuitable products
>such as sweetened condensed milk, should not be promoted for babies.
>The Innocenti Declaration called upon all government to appoint a national
>breastfeeding coordinator and to establish a "multisectoral national
>breastfeeding committee composed of representatives from relevant
>government departments, on-government organisations and health professional
>associations.
>
>In India, the law on Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant
>Foods Act came into effect in 1993 and aims to regulate production,
>supply, distribution and promotion of these products to ensure they do not
>interfere with breastfeeding.
>
>SOCIAL GROUPS/ CLUBS/ ORGANISATIONS
>
>Step 10 of the "Ten Steps To Successful Breastfeeding" is "Help start
>breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them".
>La Leche League International started in 1959 when a group of seven
>women got together to discuss their breastfeeding experiences.
>Today, support groups like La Leche League, Susu Mamas, IBFAN groups and
>ILCA provide crucial support to mothers outside of the health system. La
>Leche Leauge has more than 8,000 certified leaders who reach over 100,000
>women each month in more than 60 countries. In Norway, where close to
>100% of mothers initiate breastfeeding, and more than 80% of babies
>are exclusively breastfed at three months, mother support groups are an
>important complement to the services of health are institutions.
>
>HEALTH FACILITIES, HEALTH WORKERS
>
>Initiation of breastfeeding soon after birth is crucial for successful
>breastfeeding and requires the full support of health personnel attending
>birth. Possibly the single most disabling factor for breastfeeding
>mothers is the lack of support from health professionals coupled with
>the lack of accurate information and sometimes just plain misinformation.
> Hospital practices and routines often interfere with the
>establishment of breastfeeding. Health professionals have not been
>taught how lactation works, how to help women "latch on" their babies
>so nipples don't get damaged or how to solve brestfeeding problems.
>Well-meaning hospital staff, doctors and pharmacists give new mothers
>gift packs with formula samples, bottles, teats and formula-company
>produced 'breastfeeding' information. Along with samples comes a not-so
>subtle message that breastfeeding women also should use 'formula'.
>
>ANALYSIS
>
>Once you have surveyed members of the various sectors of the community
>listed on page 3 using the sample questions, it is time to take a look at
>the responses. Now is also the time to begin asking the questions why? Or
>why not? Expand the questions you have posed in the assessment
>stage to more analytical questions. For example: Why is infant feeding
>largely ignored in high school biology classes? Or, why has the local
>newspaper relegated ? Breastfeeding to the family pages instead of the
>science or health sections? Or, is there a way for women to breastfeed at
>the local factory? Or, could the community centre provide space for a
>weekly mother-support group meeting?
>
>These questions will most likely inspire discussion, and this discussion
>will begin to point you towards specific actions that will address the
>needs and gaps that you have uncovered.
>
>ACTION
>
>The Actions you plan will link directly back to the Assessment phase,
>and will propose solutions to problems uncovered through the Analysis.
>Actions will be different in every community, based on the area of most
>apparent need, and also based on where the best opportunities exist.
>Success depends in large part on the involvement of the entire
>community. If teachers, religious leaders, health workers, employers,
>government and business leaders and family members are brought into the
>process early on, if their insights and opinions are thoughtfully
>considered and worked into any plan of action, then their continued support
>is far more likely.
>
>ACTION = Get your Community to restore a baby - friendly
>Breastfeeding Culture
>
>The goal of a baby-friendly community will be reached through a series of
>actions, education and public awareness, changes in the work place,
>eliminating the damaging influence of infant formula promoters. These
>larger goals can be helped by activities that you can undertake in your own
>community.
>
>
>Ask the Mayor or Health minister to issue a proclamation declaring
>World Breastfeeding Week.
>
>Hold a press conference with local experts.
>
>Ask the media to broadcast or print free public service
>announcements about WBW.
>
>Visit your local health center and make sure that there are no posters or
>pamphlets on display promoting breastmilk substitutes.
>
>Offer a free workshop or talk to introduce "baby-friendliness".
>
>Activities can be as simple as congratulating a breastfeeding woman on
>the choice that she has made or as complex as helping to set up training
>programmes for hospital staff.
>
>Ask local shops and restaurants to participate in WBW. A book shop could
>have a window display with books on breastfeeding and infant nutrition; a
>restaurant could have a special luncheon for breastfeeding mothers or
>offer discounts to families who bring infants to share a meal.
>
>Organise an exhibition at a shopping mall or transit station, hospital
>or clinic
>
>"What Family And Friends Can Do".
>
>Promotions and correct information in the community can increase family
>and friends knowledge about breastfeeding. Supporting a breastfeeding
>mother can include;
>
>Cuddle, sing to, play with, change and bathe the baby. Look after other
>siblings, take them to school or on activities.
>
>Go shopping, prepare and cook meals, help with household chores.
>
>Support the mother's decision to breastfeed.
>
>Partners can attend ante-natal and/or breastfeeding classes with mothers.
>
>Do not question her milk supply. There is no surer way to make a new
>mother doubt her natural ability. She will have enough milk if she feeds
>frequently.
>
>Be understanding - taking care of a baby is time consuming. She may not
>be able to spend as much time with you as she used to, but your support
>and friendship counts nonetheless.
>
>The Train
>
>Goals = Engine
>
>To advocate a community approach to supporting breastfeeding.
>
>To work with all sectors of the community to develop ways to restore a
>breastfeeding culture.
>
>Recognising the multifaceted influence of a community on
>breastfeeding. World Breastfeeding Week 1996 encourages groups and
>individuals, government, public and private institutions, employers and
>the media to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
>
>Hospital coach
>
>Baby friendly Hospital.
>We practice Ten steps to succesful breastfeeding.
>
>Educated staff.
>No formula samples.
>No free supplies.
>
>Public health coach
>
>Pre-natal breastfeeding classes.
>Support after hospital discharge.
>24hr help line.
>Drop in clinics.
>No formula promotions.
>
>Media Coach
>
>Our programme include breastfeeding images.
>Reporters are educated in breastfeeding matters.
>
>Nursing, medical and nutrition coach.
>Use us to get breastfeeding information to the public.
>
>Travel Coach
>
>Buses, trains, aeroplanes and boats are all breastfeeding friendly
>services.
>Airports, terminals and stations are baby friendly.
>Travel in comfort with your breastfeeding baby.
>
>Restaurants, parks and other public coaches, babies are encouraged to feed
here.
>Shops encourage breastfeeding babies.
>Comfort is provided.
>
>Library Coach
>
>Up to date breastfeeding resources.
>Displays for WBW.
>Posters.
>
>Mother to mother support Coach.
>
>Working together to support breastfeeding.
>Call us - we want to help you.
>
>Education Coach
>
>Breastfeeding incorporated into the school programme.
>On site nurseries for adolescent mothers.
>Children's books and toys present, no bottles. Book illustrations that show
>mothers breastfeeding.
>
>Religious Coach
>
>Breastfeeding mothers and babies welcomed by the congregation.
>
>Doctors office/ Clinic Coach
>
>We're 1005 %? behind breastfeeding.
>Good advice.
>No formula samples.
>
>Workplace Coach
>
>This employment offers:
>Flexible hours,
>Job sharing
>On site day care
>Quiet nursing site
>4 months maternity
>
>Distributing Centres
>
>Regional and acting coordinating centres for WBW 1996 are:
>
>AFRICA
>IBFAN Africa (English)
>PO Box 781, Mbabane
>Swaziland
>Tel: (268) 45006; Fax: 44246
>
>IBFAN Africa Francophone c/o APAIB
>01 P.B.1776, Ouagadougou 01
>Burkina Faso
>Tel: (226) 303804; Fax: 300968
>
>AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND & THE PACIFIC
>Nursing Mothers Association of Australia (NMAA)
>PO Box 321, Nunawading, VIC 3131
>Australia
>Tel: (61-3) 9877 5011; Fax: 9894 3270
>
>Secretary PINDA, C/o Continuing Education
>USP (University of South Pacific), PO Box 1168
>Suva
>Fiji
>Fax: (679) 300482
>
>BRAZIL & LUSPHONE COUNTRIES
>Grupo ORIGEM/WABA Brazil (Portuguese)
>Av. Beira Mar, 3661 Loja 19, Casa Caiada,
>Olinda PE 53130-540
>Brazil
>Tel/Fax: (55-81) 432 1913
>e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
>If you want to do a more detailed investigation of the state of
>breastfeeding in your country or community join the Global
>Participatory Action Research (GLOPAR) project. Contact the WABA
>Secretariat for more information.
>
>WABA does not accept sponsorship of any kind from companies producing
>breastmilk substitutes, related equipment and complementary foods.
>WABA encourages all participants of World Breastfeeding Week to respect and
>follow this ethical stance.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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