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Infant and young child feeding counselling: An integrated course (WHO and UNICEF)

Author: WHO and UNICEF
Year: 2006
Resource type: Training

Background: There are three existing courses available from WHO/UNICEF:

• Breastfeeding Counselling: A Training Course (5 days)
• HIV and Infant Feeding Counselling: A Training Course (3 days) [with UNAIDS]
• Complementary Feeding Counselling: A Training Course (3 days) (still in draft)

This 5-day Infant and Young Child Feeding Counselling: An Integrated Course does not set out to replace these courses. In fact, most of the material in this integrated course is taken from these three courses. However, it is recognized that in many situations there is simply not enough time available to allow health workers to attend all of these courses. Given the urgency of training large numbers of health workers and counsellors, this integrated course has been developed to train those who care for mothers and young children in the basics of good infant and young child feeding.

Content: The concept of ‘counselling’ is new to many people, can be difficult to translate but is an extremely important component of this course. Counselling means more than simple advising, where you tell someone what you think they should do. Counselling involves listening to the person and helping them decide what is best for them from various options or suggestions and then helping them have the confidence to carry out their decision. This course aims to give health workers basic counselling skills so that they can help mothers and caregivers more effectively. The course is based on a set of ‘competencies’ which participants are expected to learn during training and follow-up. It covers only aspects specifically related to infant feeding. After completing this course, participants will be able to counsel and support mothers to carry out WHO/UNICEF recommended feeding practices for their infants and young children from birth up to 24 months of age, and to counsel and support HIV-infected. It does NOT prepare people to have responsibility for the nutritional care of young children with severe malnutrition or to conduct full voluntary confidential counselling and HIV testing. People who are expected to have more specialized knowledge of infant feeding should participate in the individual, as opposed to integrated, infant and young child feeding courses.

The BPNI in India developed Session 42, specifically on IFE, which is not part of the original course but should perhaps be included.

Target group: Lay counsellors, Community health workers, PMTCT counsellors (first level counsellors at district level), Primary Health Care nurses and doctors – especially if supervising and/or a referral level, Clinicians at first referral level. Course participants are not expected to have any prior knowledge of infant feeding.

Time for training: 5 days.

Used in Kenya to train workers to support the displaced.

Important note: Materials go out of date very quickly. Please ensure that material on IFE is in line with the most recent Operational Guidance on IFE, version 2.1, 2007 and other more recent policies. 

Downloads

integrated-iycf-trainers-guide.pdf (PDF, 5.2mb)

ife-session-42-extra-india-bpni.pdf (PDF, 41kb)

session-42-infant-feeding-in-emergency-situation.ppt (PowerPoint, 31kb)

iycf-directors-guide.pdf (PDF, 778kb)

iycf-participants-manual.pdf (PDF, 2.0mb)

frontcover-slides.pdf (PDF, 41kb)

backcover-slides.pdf (PDF, 10kb)

iycf-guidelines-for-followup-after-training.pdf (PDF, 246kb)

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Reference this page

WHO and UNICEF (2006). Infant and young child feeding counselling: An integrated course (WHO and UNICEF). www.ennonline.net/hivandiycfcounsellingtrraining

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