Breastfeeding is a critical, evidence-based intervention that addresses malnutrition, improves early childhood development outcomes, and influences long-term maternal and infant health by reducing the non-communicable disease risk. Scaling up breastfeeding is an indisputably strong action countries can take to prevent suboptimal maternal and infant health outcomes. The Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly (BBF) initiative assists countries with scaling up breastfeeding policy and programs. BBF has been successfully implemented within Latin America, Africa, Europe and South-East Asian regions. This study assessed its application in Samoa. In 2018, BBF was implemented in Samoa by a 20 member committee of breastfeeding experts who participated in collecting and utilizing national level data to score the degree of friendliness of Samoa’s breastfeeding environment, identify gaps, and propose policy recommendations to address those gaps. This eight-month process resulted in a public event where priority recommendations were widely disseminated to decision makers and actions agreed upon. The total BBF Index score for Samoa was 1.6 out of 3.0, indicating a moderate breastfeeding friendly environment for scaling up policies and programs that protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. Gear total scores indicated that seven of the eight gears were moderately strong within Samoa, while the eighth gear, funding and resources, was weakest in strength. Six prioritized recommendations emerged: 1) development and implementation of a National Breastfeeding Policy and Strategic Action Plan; 2) strengthening monitoring and evaluation of all breastfeeding activities; 3) ratifying the International Labour Organization’s Maternity Protection Convention 2000 (No 183); 4) identifying high-level advocates to champion and serve as role models for breastfeeding; 5) creation of a national budget line for breastfeeding activities; and 6) hiring of a national breastfeeding coordinator and trainer. Decision makers demonstrated commitment by signing the breastfeeding policy for hospitals ahead of the BBF dissemination meeting and electing to move forward with establishing lactation rooms within government ministries. Implementation of BBF in Samoa yielded important policy recommendations that will address current gaps in national level breastfeeding support. The BBF consultation process can be successfully applied to other countries within the Western Pacific region in order to strengthen their breastfeeding programs.

中文翻译：

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扩大萨摩亚的母乳喂养政策和计划：“成为友好母乳喂养”倡议的应用。

母乳喂养是一项关键的循证干预措施，旨在解决营养不良，改善儿童早期发育成果并通过降低非传染性疾病风险来影响长期的母婴健康。毫无疑问，扩大母乳喂养是各国可以采取的强有力的行动，以防止母婴健康状况欠佳。成为友好母乳喂养（BBF）计划协助各国扩大母乳喂养政策和计划。BBF已在拉丁美洲，非洲，欧洲和东南亚地区成功实施。这项研究评估了其在萨摩亚的应用。在2018年，萨摩亚由一个由20个成员组成的母乳喂养专家委员会实施了BBF，该委员会参加了收集和利用国家一级的数据来对萨摩亚的母乳喂养环境的友好程度进行评分，找出差距并提出政策建议以解决这些差距。这个为期八个月的过程导致了一场公开活动，其中优先事项建议被广泛分发给决策者，并商定了行动。萨摩亚的BBF指数总分为3.0分中的1.6分，这表明该国在为母乳喂养提供了适度的环境，以扩大保护，促进和支持母乳喂养的政策和计划。齿轮总分表明，萨摩亚八个齿轮中的七个齿轮强度中等，而第八个齿轮，资金和资源强度最弱。提出了六个优先建议：1）制定和实施国家母乳喂养政策和战略行动计划；2）加强对所有母乳喂养活动的监测和评估；3）批准国际劳工组织的《 2000年生育保护公约》（第183号）；4）确定高级别的倡导者，以倡导并充当母乳喂养的榜样；5）为母乳喂养活动建立国家预算项目；6）雇用国家母乳喂养协调员和培训师。决策者通过在BBF传播会议之前签署医院的母乳喂养政策，并选择在政府部门内建立泌乳室向前迈进，从而表明了自己的承诺。在萨摩亚实施BBF产生了重要的政策建议，将解决目前国家一级母乳喂养支持方面的差距。BBF咨询程序可以成功应用于西太平洋地区的其他国家，以加强其母乳喂养计划。