Baby-Friendly USA 10 Steps

Baby-Friendly Hospital Introduction: Welcome to our learning module on what it means to be a Baby-Friendly Hospital. Tulare Regional Medical Center is on it’s way to becoming a Baby-Friendly Hospital! This is very important information for all employees as our hospital is in the final phase of designation. Description: This very brief learning module will describe the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, and the Baby-Friendly Hospital initiative, a worldwide breastfeeding quality improvement project created by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Objective: By completion of this learning module, the employee will be able to respond with 100% accuracy to questions pertaining to the Ten Steps To Successful Breastfeeding, and the hospital wide breastfeeding policy.   Target Group: All staff working at Tulare Regional Medical Center.

What Does it mean to be “Baby-Friendly” A Baby Friendly Hospital provides the Gold standard of care to mothers and babies. They strive toward excellence in providing evidence-based, maternity care with the goal of achieving optimal infant feeding outcomes and mother/baby bonding Baby Friendly hospitals and birth centers up hold the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes by offering parents support, education, and educational materials that promote human milk rather than other infant food or drinks, and by refusing to accept or distribute free or subsidized supplies of breast milk substitutes, nipples, and other feeding devices. The Baby-Friendly hospitals assist in giving all mothers the information, confidence, and skills necessary to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies or feeding formula safely.

The Baby-Friendly Journey We are here!

Baby-Friendly Hospital We will be receiving a visit from Baby-Friendly USA in the upcoming months for our on-site assessment! This is the final step in order to complete the process of becoming a Baby-Friendly Hospital. We need the entire hospitals support in order to complete the Baby-Friendly journey.

10 Steps To Successful breastfeeding Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all healthcare staff. TRMC’s breastfeeding policy is located on the OB floor, as well as on the employee intranet. All TRMC employees should review this policy. The 10 Steps For Successful Breastfeeding can be found mounted on the wall in OB, Nursery, Lab, ED, 3rd floor, waiting rooms, and associated clinics.

10 Steps To Successful breastfeeding Train all healthcare staff in skills necessary to implement this policy. All RNs and ancillary staff caring for mothers and babies obtain 20 hours of breastfeeding specific education. Physicians who care for mothers and babies are also required to complete specialized education.

10 Steps To Successful breastfeeding   Step 3: Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding. Every woman is offered education so that they can make an informed choice on how she will feed her infant and have the knowledge to breastfeed as long as they desire. TRMC offers free childbirth classes and breastfeeding classes at Evolutions. These classes are open to all.

10 Steps To Successful breastfeeding   Step 4: Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within an hour of birth. For healthy full term babies birthed vaginally, babies are placed skin to skin within 5 minutes, and for cesarean births, the babies will be placed skin to skin within 5 minutes of when the mother is responsive and alert. The baby is then left skin to skin until after the first feeding, or as long as mother wishes.

10 Steps To Successful breastfeeding   Step 5: Show mother’s how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation even if they should be separated from their infants. Staff caring for mothers and babies will assist with latch and positioning, or refer to a Lactation Consultant who can assist the patient. All mothers who deliver at TRMC are taught how to hand express their milk. In case of separation of a mother and her baby, a breast pump is issued within 6 hours.

10 Steps To Successful breastfeeding   Step 6: Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk unless medically indicated. TRMC does not provided routine supplementation of breast milk substitutes to newborn infants. TRMC does not give out free samples of breast milk substitutes to patients, or employees. TRMC promotes the AAP recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, followed by breastfeeding in combination with the introduction of complementary foods until at least 12 months of age, and of breastfeeding for as long as mutually desired by mother and baby.

10 Steps To Successful breastfeeding   Step 7: Practice rooming-in, allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day. TRMC practices rooming in with all of our healthy mothers and babies. All necessary routine assessments and lab draws are done at the mother’s bedside when possible.

10 Steps To Successful breastfeeding   Step 8: Encouraged breastfeeding on demand Parents delivering at TRMC are taught how to recognized infant feeding cues, and are encouraged to feed babies when they show signs of hunger, at least 8 times in 24 hours.

10 Steps To Successful breastfeeding   Step 9: Give no artificial teats or pacifiers to breastfeeding infants. TRMC does not provided patients who are breastfeeding with pacifiers or artificial teats. If medically indicated, pacifiers are provided with education.

10 Steps To Successful breastfeeding   Step 10: Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic. TRMC provides information to all new mothers upon discharge about the breastfeeding resources that are available in the community.

10 Steps To Successful breastfeeding   TRMC provides a breastfeeding friendly workplace! The lactation room on the 3rd floor is available for all employees to pump while they are at work. If you have any questions regarding a breastfeeding mother or baby, or need to refer a patient for a lactation consult- Please call ext.- 4504 and set up an appointment!