The 20 Hour Breastfeeding Course for the United States

This basic course fulfills the UNICEF recommendations for those who work with mothers and babies. Topics include Breastfeeding as a Public Health Priority, the role of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, the use of evidence based clinical practices to develop evidence based hospital policies that support breastfeeding practices, the advantages of breastfeeding, counseling the mother in her social context, the prenatal period, the basics of lactation management (anatomy, physiology, milk supply, correct “latch-on,” the importance of hospital practices on breastfeeding, expressing and feeding human milk,) as well as breastfeeding under special circumstances (contraindications, babies who refuse the breast, pre-term infants, early problems and later problems). There is also a section on community support for breastfeeding and how to support mothers who choose to safely feed formula-the new criteria for designation as a Baby-Friendly Hospital. Based on the new 20 hour Curriculum in Support of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, this course was developed with support from the US Department of Health and Human Services for the US Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.