Bayhealth Milford Memorial Hospital earns Baby-Friendly designation
A new Baby-Friendly hospital is born as Bayhealth Milford Memorial Hospital recently joined an elite group of birth facilities to obtain the Baby-Friendly designation.
Baby-Friendly USA Inc. is the approving body in the United States for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund. The initiative encourages and recognizes hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of care for breastfeeding mothers and their babies.
Bayhealth Kent General is also among an exclusive group of 198 hospitals and birth centers, out of 3,000 facilities in the United States, which have achieved Baby-Friendly status. Bayhealth Milford Memorial just received the results of the Centers for Disease Control survey of Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care.
This survey is done every two years, and since 2013 is reported as soon as the statistics are calculated with the rest of the nation, the results were reported to Bayhealth in November. Bayhealth Milford Memorial Hospital's total score percentile was 98 percent, compared to all facilities nationwide.
“We are committed to giving newborns the best head start in life and to helping mothers breastfeed successfully,” said Ronnie Kopec, RN, MS, NE-BC, Bayhealth Women’s and Children’s Services director. “To accomplish optimal results, we work with our physicians, nurses and lactation consultants to provide expert guidance and support to each family.”
Baby-Friendly designation requires hospitals to:
• Sustain a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all healthcare staff.
• Train all healthcare staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
• Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding. Mothers choosing to formula feed will be taught safe formula preparation, and appropriate feeding methods and amounts for their newborn.
• Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth. All mothers, regardless of their feeding preferences, will be taught and encouraged to do Skin to Skin with their newborns after birth to support optimum mom/baby bonding and medical stabilization of the newborn.
• Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
• Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.
• Practice rooming-in by allowing mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
•. Encourage unrestricted breastfeeding.
• Give no artificial pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
• Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.
“Getting infants off to a good start impacts the rest of their lives, especially when it comes to a healthy weight,” said Gail Smith, RN, IBCLC, Lactation Services program coordinator. “When babies exclusively breastfeed for the first six months, then up to the first year with complementary foods, there is a greater chance to break the chain of obesity.”
Monthly support groups, educational classes, and peer counseling are all made available to new mothers to encourage and support them on their breastfeeding journey. To learn more about Women’s and Children’s Services at Bayhealth Milford Memorial, go to www.bayhealth.org. To learn more about lactation services, call 302-744-7233.
