Bjelovarsko-bilogorska županija - prijatelj dojenja
The Bjelovar-Bilogora County – Friend of Breastfeeding

Summary/Abstract: Though in the last couple of years the child mortality rate decreased enormously in countries with low GNP, millions of children are still not given the opportunity to develop to their full psycho-social and cognitive potential. A holistic approach to child development and a comprehensive, integrated multidisciplinary activity with the aim of providing services stimulating optimal child development are needed. The key factors are health, nutrition and environment, while particular attention should be paid to risk groups of children. This task may not be performed only within health care institutions; cooperation with government agencies, local administration bodies and civil society institutions is necessary. Multi-fold conditions influence child development: nutritional and biomedical status; genetic inheritance; social and cultural context. The first couple of months set the foundations to later development. Short-term and limited interventions in late pre-school age come – in most cases – too late and are of very limited efficiency. Intrauterine processes preceding the moment when a woman finds out she is pregnant exercise a major impact on fetal growth and pregnancy outcome. Mother’s stress (especially in the peri-natal period) and the quality of mother’s care influence the child’s early psychological development, with possible effects lasting up to adulthood. Breastfeeding is the only feeding option that ensures optimal conditions for infant growth and development. Modern medicine imperatively indicates to the fact that a continued pre- and post-natal care for mothers and children is necessary, and presents the most efficient and the highest-quality procedure preventing newborns, infants and children from psychic or somatic diseases. In the city of Bjelovar area, care-providing programme for mother and child from the moment of conception has been developed. The Counselling centre for children – friend of breastfeeding and the Breastfeeding support group, in cooperation with the Maternity ward – friend of children of the Bjelovar General Hospital, encourage breastfeeding and only breastfeeding from childbirth to six months of the child’s age, and continued breastfeeding with timely introduction of supplemental feeding. During trainings for future mothers, organised by the Community Health Nursing Unit of the Bjelovar Health Centre and the association named For a healthy and a happy childhood, we inform future mothers about the advantages of natural feeding. We cooperate with the Clinical Hospital “Sveti Duh” in conducting staff training related to mother-andchild care. We encourage cooperation of health care workers with breastfeeding support groups. We organise workshops to stimulate the development of the breastfeeding culture within local communities. We cooperate with competent administration bodies at city and county levels, as well as with the media, in order to keep them informed about the breastfeeding principles, and generally, to work on raising the awareness of the importance of breastfeeding. Via the association, we participate in the training programmes conducted in local elementary and secondary schools. The objective of the project entitled The Bjelovar-Bilogora County – Friend of Breastfeeding is to broaden the said activities to all cities in the Bjelovar-Bilogora County: Daruvar, Grubišno Polje, Čazma, Garešnica.

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