This part of the site gives information about the pathway to Baby Friendly accreditation.

Best practice standards
The Baby Friendly Initiative accredits maternity and community health-care facilities and higher education institutions that have implemented best practice for breastfeeding and have passed an external assessment. To find out more about the best practice standards that relate to your area of practice, choose either Maternity best practice standards, Community best practice standards or University best practice standards from the menu on the right. You can find advice and guidance on implementing the Baby Friendly standards in the relevant section.

Accreditation stages
Working towards full accreditation takes place in stages. This is to assist units to make the changes required strategically and efficiently. To see how the stages work in each area of practice, click on either Maternity assessment stages, Community assessment stages or University assessment stages from the list on the right.

Neonatal stages
The Baby Friendly Initiative has produced a set of standards for neonatal units, but with, as yet, no accompanying accreditation scheme. To find out more, choose Neonatal standards from the list on the right.

Education and materials
The Baby Friendly Initiative also provides education and materials to support facilities as they work through each stage. To find out more about our training programmes, click on the Training tab at the top of this page. For more information about the resources available from UNICEF and other organisations, choose the Resources tab at the top of the page.