Khoula Hospital gets global accreditation for baby care

Many steps were taken, including creating a childfriendly environment by providing special rooms for children and mothers for breastfeeding

Khoula Hospital, represented by the obstetrics, gynecology and neonatal departments, obtained the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund for supporting breastfeeding for healthy generations.

It is the first child-friendly government hospital in the Sultanate of Oman to obtain this accreditation in more than 20 years.

The celebration was held under the auspices of Dr. Said Harib Al-Lamki, MoH Undersecretary for Health Affairs in the presence of Dr. Rashid Al-Abri, Director General of Khoula Hospital and representatives from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF.

Dr. Salima Al-Mamari, MoH Director of Nutrition Department stressed that Khoula Hospital has met the BFHI requirements of the WHO and UNICEF aiming to motivate hospitals to implement ten steps encouraging mothers to successful breastfeeding.

Dr. Rashid Al-Abri, Director General of Khoula Hospital, stressed in his speech that obtaining this accreditation is an achievement for the hospital and reflects its commitment to providing optimal health care for children and improving the quality of their lives and their families.

He said that this achievement was the result of efforts undertaken over the past year to improve children’s care in the hospital, based on their rights and a commitment to providing better health care to them.

He added that many measures have been taken for this achievement, including creating a child-friendly environment by providing special rooms for children and mothers to breastfeed, training employees on the needs of children and mothers, and providing support services to breastfeeding mothers, including counseling services and psychological support.

He stressed that the honour for Khoula Hospital is a new beginning, and we will continue to work to improve children’s care in the hospital with utmost care.

For her part, Dr. Salima AlMamari, Director of the Nutrition Department at the Ministry of Health, indicated that the Baby-Friendly Hospitals Initiative is one of the best and most important programmes to support breastfeeding at health institutions.

She added that the General Directorate of Khoula Hospital have made persistent efforts to implement ten steps of the childfriendly hospital initiative in the relevant departments and witnessed great cooperation from medical teams to develop health care services for the community.

She stated that the national team from the Nutrition Department of the Ministry of Health conducted the first visit to evaluate the child-friendly hospital initiative last October, which included meetings, visits, and continuous follow-ups.

She explained that obtaining the accreditation certificate by the Khoula Hospital came after the completion of the evaluation processes by the national team, as the BFHI relies on adopting ten steps for the success of breastfeeding. The hospital has successfully passed the policy implementation test, applied for the international and local code and received an evaluation grade of more than 80 percent in the initiative’s indicators.

It is noteworthy that the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global accreditation programme, launched in 1991 by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund. The Ten Steps to successful breastfeeding are:

1- Having a written infant feeding policy that is routinely communicated to staff and parents, comply fully with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.

2- Ensure that staff have sufficient knowledge, competence and skills to support breastfeeding

3- Discuss the importance and management of breastfeeding with pregnant women and their families.

4- Facilitate immediate and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact and support mothers to initiate breastfeeding as soon as possible after birth.

5- Support mothers to initiate and maintain breastfeeding and manage common difficulties.

6-Do not provide breastfed newborns any food or fluids other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.

7- Enable mothers and their infants to remain together and to practice rooming-in 24 hours a day.

8- Support mothers to recognise and respond to their infants’ cues for feeding.

9- Counsel mothers on the use and risks of feeding bottles, teats and pacifiers.

10- Establishing supportive groups to provide ongoing support and care for mothers after discharge.