PROVINCIAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE
for the IMPLEMENTATION of
BABY FRIENDLY IN MANITOBA

Terms of Reference

The Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) is an international ten step program established in 1992 by World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF to promote, support and protect breastfeeding worldwide in hospitals and in the community. Although there are over 14,000 designated Baby Friendly Hospitals worldwide, there is only one that has been designated recently in Canada. As the National Authority for the WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative in Canada, the Breastfeeding Committee for Canada (BCC) has the goal of implementation of the BFI across the country over the next three years.

Designation as Baby Friendly is a formal recognition by UNICEF, WHO and BCC that a hospital in Canada has fully conformed to the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Assessment Criteria.

Mandate

The mandate of the Committee is to support and facilitate the implementation of the Baby Friendly Initiative within Regional Health Authorities in order to promote, protect and support breastfeeding as the optimum for infant nutrition in Manitoba.

Responsibilities of the Committee

Work in partnership with the Breastfeeding Committee of Canada (BCC) and other stakeholders in the Baby Friendly Initiative:

Support the RHAs in the implementation of BFHI/BFI within Manitoba, inclusive of hospital and community sectors.

Act as the contact between the BCC and the RHAs and their hospitals that are pursuing the Baby Friendly hospital designation process. This includes the pre-assessment and external assessment processes, as outlined in the "Hospital and Maternity Care Centre Guidelines for the Implementation of theWHO/UNICEF BFHI in Canada", April, 1999.

Activities: may include

Developing and sharing information and strategies to promote the Baby Friendly Initiative in communities, community programs and health facilities in Manitoba;
Identifying and resolving barriers to the implementation of BFI in the communities, community programs and health facilities in Manitoba;
Acting as a catalyst and information resource for the Baby Friendly Initiative;
Networking with hospitals intending to become Baby Friendly;
Linking with the Breastfeeding Committee of Canada which is the National Authority for the Baby Friendly Initiative in Canada;
Increasing community awareness of the importance of breastfeeding to the individual and society;
Delineating educational needs and encouraging breastfeeding research.

Membership

Representatives of Regional Health Authorities
Representative of Manitoba Health
Other organizations and resource people as determined by the Committee

The Committee will select the Chair/Co-Chairs from its membership.

Meetings

The Committee will hold a maximum of three in-person meetings/year with teleconferencing as required.

Reporting Relationship

The Committee reports to the Provincial Programs and Services Executive Network as well as Health Programs, Manitoba Health.

Funding

The costs associated with meeting support will be covered by Manitoba Health (e.g. meeting space, refreshments). The responsibility for costs associated with attendance of representatives at meetings will be the responsibility of the Regional Health Authorities.