Vietnam’s IYCF Named Save the Children Signature Program

Save the Children has approved the Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) program in Vietnam as its latest signature program, the first time a project in the country to receive such recognition. 

At the December CEO meeting, participants approved the IYFC program. They will also consider the MaMoni integrated maternal, newborn, child health program in Bangladesh for approval as the next signature program.

The IYCF program, or the Alive & Thrive (A&T) initiative, operated from 2009 to 2014 with the support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative aimed to improve infant and young child nutrition by increasing rates of exclusive breastfeeding and improving complementary feeding practices in three countries Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Vietnam.

In Vietnam, Save the Children worked as the implementing partner, establishing IYCF franchises in health facilities for counseling and IYCF support groups in ethnic minority areas. Save the Children also offered policy and nutrition technical support at A&T headquarters.

The six-year program aimed at doubling the rate of exclusive breastfeeding, reducing the stunting rate among Vietnamese children under two years old by 2 percentage points per year and improving the quality and quantity of complementary feeding practices for children aged 6-24 months.

The IYFC program offered the Mat Troi Be Tho (MTBT) franchise which provided 15 counseling packages for mothers and families from the third trimester of pregnancy until the baby reaches 24 months. The IYCF support group offered similar counseling services with further reach, at communal levels in remote mountainous areas.   

From the first franchise in Thanh Hoa province, by the end of 2014, a total of 781 of such facilities had been launched in 15 provinces with around 90 percent being commune health facilities. Franchisors were comprised of A&T, the National Institute of Nutrition and the provincial departments of health while health and reproductive facilities, pediatric hospitals, district health centers, communal health units and a few clinics served as the franchisees.

A&T advocated for the extension of mandatory paid maternity leave to six months from four months and worked with the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to encourage work places to set up breastfeeding room and support mothers to express breastmilk. In 2012, the Vietnamese parliament approved the amended Labor Code, in which the maternity leave was increased to six months.