Within the scope of the Ministry of Health's efforts to encourage breast milk and provide mothers with information and correct habits about breastfeeding, the Breast Milk Promotion and Baby-Friendly Hospitals Program was launched in 1991 to ensure that breastfeeding becomes a successful and established practice in hospitals providing maternity services.

Hospitals providing maternity services; those that inform expectant mothers about breast milk and breastfeeding starting from their pregnancy, ensure that mothers breastfeed their babies immediately after birth, and assist mothers on how to breastfeed their babies with healthcare personnel trained with up-to-date information are given the title of 'Baby-Friendly Hospital'.

As Imperial Hospital, we also have the title of "BABY-FRIENDLY HOSPITAL".

IMPERIAL HOSPITAL SUCCESSFUL BREASTFEEDING POLICY

1. In our hospital, breast milk is considered the most ideal food for babies. In order to protect, encourage and support breast milk and breastfeeding practices, we have prepared a written breastfeeding policy that is shared with staff and parents at regular intervals and has been adopted by all staff.

2. The international law on the marketing of infant formulas has been adopted in all units of our hospital. We do not allow advertising and marketing of breast milk substitutes in our institution.

3. A Baby-Friendly Hospital Committee has been established in our hospital and we continue to work collaboratively on data monitoring and sustainability in this area.

4. All healthcare personnel in our hospital have received in-service training in line with this policy and are competent and skilled in supporting mothers.

5. We inform all pregnant women who apply to our hospital about the importance of breast milk, the benefits and methods of breastfeeding.

6. We support mothers to start breastfeeding by ensuring skin-to-skin contact with their babies as soon as they are born and to ensure that contact continues uninterrupted.

7. We show mothers how to breastfeed, breastfeeding methods and how to maintain milk secretion in cases where they are separated from their babies.

8. We do not give food or drink other than breast milk to newborns unless medically necessary. We inform families that breast milk should be given only for the first 6 months and that breastfeeding should continue until the age of 2 and beyond with appropriate complementary feeding.

9. We ensure that mothers and babies stay in the same room 24 hours a day during their stay in our hospital.

10. We encourage mothers to recognize and respond to the signs their babies give when they are hungry, and we encourage them to breastfeed whenever they want.

Fabric pacifiers and bottles are not given to breastfed babies, and we inform families about the risks.

11. We inform parents about centers where they can access continuous support and care services for breastfeeding their babies before discharge, and we monitor the mother and baby in this regard after discharge and encourage them to breastfeed.

ALL OF OUR HEALTH STAFF HAVE THE SKILLS TO HELP MOTHERS WITH BREAST MILK AND BREASTFEEDING.