Mapping the Functioning of the Baby-Friendly Community Initiative and Identifying its Needs Within the Kenyan Health System

Abstract

The baby-friendly community initiative (BFCI) aims to promote and support optimal maternal and child nutrition at the community level using community health volunteers (CHVs). The initiative has been shown to be effective in promoting exclusive breastfeeding in rural Kenya and is currently being implemented across the country, but with some challenges. These include: lack of a national BFCI training curriculum for CHVs, insufficient number of BFCI master trainers, staff turnover for BFCI trained health workers, and inadequate financial support for BFCI activities. In order to address these challenges, a holistic understanding of factors that influence BFCI implementation is required.