This manual can be used as part of an in-service orientation/training for newly employed or deployed health professionals working in MIYCN. It can also be used to train existing primary healthcare (PHC) workers on essential MIYCN services that can be integrated into PHC services.

A breastfeeding promotion intervention in private facilities in Lagos, which included training for healthcare providers, increased the percentage of exclusively breastfed infants but had no impact on early initiation of breastfeeding.

The IYCF Practical Skills Orientation Facilitators' Manual is suitable for health staff including birth attendants, ANC providers, facility In-Charges and service providers who are in contact with pregnant women, mothers in delivery rooms and their newborn infants, mothers of children 0-6 months

In northern Nigeria, interventions are urgently needed to narrow the large gap between international breastfeeding recommendations and actual breastfeeding practices.