Table 2.

Themesa and subthemes identified from key informants' interview data

Theme	Subtheme	Description
The Code: Necessary but insufficient: Informants stated that the Code is essential to improving EBF but emphasized that the legislation, implementation, and enforcement of the Code alone is likely not adequate.     The themes within this domain reflect the challenges and opportunities to Code implementation and support the proposition that the Code is necessary but insufficient to improve prevalence of EBF.	Advocacy	The work of key players, including civil society, NGOs, and international organizations, in support of the legislation, implementation, and enforcement of the Code.
	Communication	The ways in which information about infant formula, the Code itself, and breastfeeding is disseminated to civil society.
	National and regional legislation	The existence and content of laws based on the Code. The creation of strong legislation is a crucial early step to implementing the Code.
	Inspection and monitoring systems	Systematic ways to measure compliance to the Code at all levels, in both continuous and intermittent ways.
	Proportional sanctions	A Code implementation strategy that would allow relevant bodies to impose sanctions that are both proportional to the egregiousness of the violation and the ability of the individual or company to pay.
	Pre‐ and in‐service on the Code for health professionals	Education of health professionals about the Code and their responsibilities to uphold it.
	Coordination and evaluation	The ways in which multiple sectors do and should work together to facilitate all aspects of Code implementation and evaluate their successes and failures.
	Research and evaluation	Research and evaluation is needed on the relationship between the Code and EBF.
Enabling factors are needed to increase EBF.   Building off of the idea of the Code as necessary but insufficient and with the understanding that multiple contextual factors are needed to create an enabling environment for breastfeeding, this domain describes key facilitators and barriers to EBF.	Six months maternity leave	Barrier: Informants cited that inadequate maternity leave (e.g. less than 6 months) is a key barrier to EBF
	Training on breastfeeding for health professionals	Barrier: Informants indicated that training on breastfeeding more generally is often lacking in curricula.
	Health systems strengthening	Facilitator: Increasing the capacity of the hospitals would improve initiation of EBF.
	Food industry strategy	Barrier: The strategies of infant formula companies are a key barrier to successful implementation of the Code and improving EBF.
Transition of infant feeding programmes from donor‐led to country‐owned is essential for long‐term sustainability.		Necessary governance‐related changes that must take place in the background to improve the Code's influence on breastfeeding behaviours. In addition to efforts to better legislate, implement, and evaluate the code, it is crucial that such efforts gradually transition from the hands of donors to the hands of governments.

^aThemes are in descending order of centrality to research question. EBF: exclusive breastfeeding.