IASO is holding the 20th Breastfeeding Seminar from 01/12/14 to 05/12/14. The seminar is addressed to Healthcare Professional and is under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and UNICEF. The participation to the seminar is free of charge.

World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, acknowledging the value of Breastfeeding, established the Initiative “Baby-friendly Hospitals”, by setting the Ten Steps to a Successful Breastfeeding, the embracing of which constitutes the ultimate goal of IASO.

Acknowledging the mother’s priceless offer towards her child and at the same time the indefeasible right of a newborn to breastfeeding – which is the optimal way for exclusive feeding for the first six months of the infant’s life – we, at IASO, put significant efforts in the awareness, consciousness, information and promotion of breastfeeding and try to apply the Ten Steps to its Success.

Namely, we:

• Observe a Written Policy according to UNICEF’s and WHO’s guidelines.
• Routinely educate all our Nursing Staff by organizing regular seminars aimed at the acquisition of all the necessary knowledge and skills for the observance of the aforementioned Policy.
• Hold Childbirth Education Classes on Breastfeeding in order to timely and responsibly inform and train all future mothers on Breastfeeding and its benefits.
• Take care for the early initiation of breastfeeding, thusly establishing lactation and fortifying the emotional bonding between a mother and her infant.
• Advise all mothers who must be separated from their newborn for Medical reasons (admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) to continue producing breast milk so that the newborn receives it at the earliest opportunity.
• Do not feed the newborns with any other type of food or liquid apart from breast milk, unless otherwise dictated, e.g. on medical grounds or the mother’s wish.
• Apply the “Kangaroo Care” method; it provides skin-to-skin contact between the mother and her premature neonate and constitutes a method with undeniable benefits for both of them.
• All mothers can have their newborn stay in the same room with them (“Rooming-in Practice”).
• We encourage all new mothers to feed their baby whenever their baby longs for it in order to achieve free and unlimited Breastfeeding.
• We do not give pacifiers or feeding bottles to the breastfeeding newborn.
• We support breastfeeding with a 24/7 Helpline for all mothers discharged from IASO (tel: +30 210 618 4000).

To conclude, the Seminar comprises 27 hours of Theory and 8 hours of Hands-on practice, based on the guidelines set by WHO. The scope of the seminar is the education upon issues regarding the Support, Promotion and Protection of Breastfeeding.

To register for the seminar, please contact IASO’s Nursing Management Secretariat at +30 210 618 4155 & 210 618 4199.

For more press information, please contact Ms Nancy Christopoulou, Department of Commercial Management at IASO Group, tel: +30 210 638 3917, E-mail: [email protected] & Ms Ioanna Renti, Department of Commercial Management at IASO Group, tel: +30 210 638 3905, E-mail: [email protected]