Building the Competency of Health Professionals in the Kyrgyz Republic for the Baby‐Friendly Hospital Initiative

Health professional competency building is one of nine national responsibilities (to achieve universal coverage and sustainability) described in the 2018 World Health Organization/UNICEF implementation guidance for the Baby‐Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI). Skilled breastfeeding support as a standard of newborn care is critical to the establishment of lactation and exclusive breastfeeding. This qualitative case study describes the Kyrgyz Republic's experience with health professional competency building related to breastfeeding counseling and support. The study found that although the country has a new policy reflecting BFHI global standards and guidance, the policy has not been disseminated nationally. Additionally, the policy lacks guidance on competency monitoring and verification and does not mention preservice training, even though preservice training on breastfeeding support exists. Conducted during the COVID‐19 pandemic, this study confirmeddisruptions to BFHI training and service delivery but also documents the Kyrgyz Republic's resilient strides to mitigate impacts on breastfeeding support throughfacility‐level individual champions and adjustments to training such as going online.