PVH and MCR have been designated as Baby-Friendly Hospitals in northern Colorado.
This international designation means that special steps have been taken to create the best possible hospital environment for successful breastfeeding.This prestigious award recognizes hospitals and birthing facilities that offer mothers the information, confidence, and skills to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies. Breastfeeding supports optimal development and protects your baby against acute and chronic illness.
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that hospitals can either help or hinder mothers and babies as they begin to breast-feed. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative describes Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding that have been shown to increase breastfeeding rates by providing support to mothers.
The CDC encourages more hospitals to follow the guidelines set forth by Baby-Friendly to ensure mothers can start and continue breastfeeding.
To learn more about how delivering your baby at a Baby-Friendly Hospital is different than a traditional hospital, you can watch the Baby-Friendly Rap.
We're happy to have two hospitals, PVH and MCR, in northern Colorado that follow these recommendations and help give moms and babies a successful start with breastfeeding.
The ten steps for the United States are:
-
Maintain a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
-
Train all healthcare staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
-
Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
-
Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
-
Show mothers how to breast-feed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infant(s).
-
Give infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.
-
Practice "rooming in." Allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
-
Encourage unrestricted breastfeeding.
-
Give no 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.
There are many breastfeeding benefits for moms and babies. If you have any questions about breastfeeding during or after your hospital stay, please contact our WeeSteps program for additional support.
MCR joins PVH as two of only three hospitals in Colorado to achieve the Baby-Friendly designation. Exempla Good Samaritan in Lafayette is the other Baby-Friendly hospital in Colorado.
|
