Other specific skills that are taught include hand expression of breastmilk and feeding of a baby by cup. Common difficulties that breast-feeding mothers may encounter and experience are addressed in detail. Uncom-monly, it may be due to illness or abnormality of the baby, or the mother's physical condition, for example if she is taking the combined type of contraceptive pill. Participants learn how to identify the cause, and how to support mothers to help them overcome the difficulty. Because it is short, the 18-hour course can be introduced quickly, but it does not give detailed training in clinical and counselling skills.
Considerable experience is necessary to prepare and conduct such a course.
These courses should be used to complement each other and to cater for the needs of different target groups and the various phases of an overall training plan. The materials are compatible, use similar terminology and make the same recom-mendations for optimal infant feeding practices and for the support and help that health workers can provide. After its completion, the training was introduced in Iran, and other countries have followed since. Experiences so far have been very encouraging. In countries where training on breastfeeding had already started before the course was introduced, for example the Philippines, Bangladesh and Iran, it has been observed that the materials filled a well recognised gap.