title: A transition strategy for becoming a baby-friendly hospital: exploring the costs, benefits, and challenges.
abstract: The objectives of this study were to provide an economic assessment as well as a calculated projection of the costs that typical U.S. tertiary-care hospitals would incur through policy reconfiguration and implementation to achieve the UNICEF/World Health Organization Baby-Friendly® Hospital designation and to examine the associated challenges and benefits of becoming a Baby-Friendly Hospital. We analyzed hospital resource utilization, focusing on formula use and staffing profiles at one U.S. urban tertiary-care teaching hospital, as well as conducted an online survey and telephone interviews with a selection of Baby-Friendly Hospitals to obtain their perspective on costs, challenges, and benefits. Findings indicate that added costs for a new Baby-Friendly Hospital will approximate $148 per birth, but these costs sharply decrease over time as breastfeeding rates increase in a Baby-Friendly environment.
authors.affiliation: Fleming Center for Healthcare Management, University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. Jami.L.DelliFraine@uth.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Jami
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: DelliFraine
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Langabeer
authors.forename: Rigoberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.forename: Janet F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gong
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D040361:Healthy People Programs / Q000458:organization & administration; D006771:Hospitals, Maternity / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008430:Maternal-Child Health Centers / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D016134:Organizational Policy; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D014480:United Nations