Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Through Bestfed Beginnings

2 Why Pursue Baby Friendly Certification? ✤ The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative is a global program to encourage and recognize hospitals that offer an optimal level of care for breastfeeding. ✤ Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates breastfeeding is optimal method of infant feeding ✤ Breastfeeding is single most powerful preventative modality to reduce risk of common causes of infant morbidity ✤ Breastfeeding creates significant savings in health care dollars ✤ Recognition as a Baby Friendly institution has national and international credibility and prestige

3 Why Pursue Baby Friendly Certification? Numerous professional organizations actively encourage programs for support and management of breastfeeding –AAP recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age, and continued breastfeeding with complementary foods up to one year –Who recommends breastfeeding up to two years of age and beyond Healthy People 2010 had a goal of 75% early postpartum breastfeeding. This goal is suggested to go to 85%

4 How Did We Get To This Point Best Fed Beginnings is a project of the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ), with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and in close partnership with Baby- Friendly USA Made aware grant offered to assist hospitals to pursue Baby Friendly designation 20,000 hospitals accredited world wide but only 200 hospitals accredited in USA Team was quickly assembled to meet the grant application deadline The grant was awarded now working towards 2014 accreditation

5 Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative at St. Vincent Team includes:  administrative leader  department leader  lactation staff  midwife  peds and OB providers  nursing educator  clinic leadership  staff nurses  mother advocate

6 How Do We Achieve Baby Friendly Status? NICHQ - Change managers Utilize proven techniques to achieve successful healthcare change Hospital accountable to implement the specific steps with help through regional learning sessions webinars ilab where stats shown group sharing

7 The 10 Steps 1. Written infant feeding policy 2. Train health care staff in skills to implement policy 3. Inform pregnant women of benefits/management of breastfeeding 4. Skin to skin immediately following birth 5. Assist mothers with breastfeeding even when separated from infant 6. Exclusive breastfeeding except when medically necessary 7. Rooming-in 24 hours a day 8. All babies feeding on cue 9. No pacifiers or artificial nipples for breastfeeding infants 10. Refer mothers to breastfeeding support at discharge

8 The 10 Steps Use the Guidelines and Evaluation for Baby Friendly Designation – Really 64 steps – Sounds simple but very difficult » Requires change in culture, attitude and work flow » Significant training for nurses and providers – Done in collaboration with Prevea OB Department – Actual survey with 2 nurses over 2 days » Interview nurses and mothers, review records

9 Training Tools

10 In Pursuit of Baby Friendly Designation Questions