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What’s a Baby-Friendly Hospital? Ask a Breastfeeding Mother

July 03, 2018

With breastfeeding experiencing a global resurgence bolstered by research touting its benefits, Hartford HealthCare hospitals have responded by creating Baby-Friendly environments focused on supporting mothers in their feeding choice.

The Centers for Disease Control’s 2016 Breastfeeding Report Card reveals that more than eight in 10 new mothers begin breastfeeding their babies at birth.

Most do so because they understand the benefits of breastfeeding include:

• Improving baby’s health and strengthening the immune system.
• Helping prevent such conditions as diarrhea, ear infections, asthma, respiratory illness, heart disease and obesity, as well as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
• Enhancing the bonding experience between mother and baby.
• Boosting IQ scores later in childhood.
• Burning calories to help mothers lose pregnancy weight faster.
• Lowering mom’s risk of breast, uterine, endometrial and ovarian cancer, as well as heart disease.

“Breast milk is perfectly matched nutrition for the baby, filled with antibodies to protect the baby,” says Mary Marshall-Crim,  manager of the lactation program at Hartford Hospital, the first hospital in Connecticut to earn the Baby-Friendly designation created by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund to encourage breastfeeding. “It also increases bonding for the family, saves money and is healthy for the environment because there is less wasted and packaging needed.”

Hartford, MidState Medical Center and the Hospital of Central Connecticut are all Baby-Friendly birthing facilities. Backus and Windham hospitals are in the final stages of a multi-year effort to earn the designation.

Having a specified policy and training labor and delivery staff in breastfeeding practices are just two of the 10 requirements birthing centers must meet to earn the Baby-Friendly designation. Others include being committed to helping mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth, showing mothers how to breastfeed and maintain lactation if they are separated from their babies, avoiding giving liquids other than breast milk unless medically necessary and practicing rooming-in, keeping babies in the room with their mothers instead of going to a nursery.

The staff must often help mothers overcome various barriers to breastfeeding, according to Melissa Alvarez, a lactation consultant at Midstate. These can include difficulty latching, C-sections and the special feeding needs of a premature baby.

“We are committed to helping moms reach their breastfeeding goals,” she adds. “All of our staff are trained to help moms get the baby skin to skin and nursing in the first hour, and we continue support and educate families through their hospital stay.”

Help is multi-layered: Marshall-Crim says if a nurse is unable to resolve a concern, certified lactation consultants are available seven days a week.

There are also various resources in place to help mothers once they leave the hospital, a point at which as many as 15 percent of new mothers will stop breastfeeding for various reasons. These include weekly support group meetings and the services of peer counselors and lactation counselors who can follow up with home visits for those who qualify.

“The continuation of support is what helps these mothers through some stressful periods of learning to care for and feed their newborns,” says Alvarez.

Even with the renewed popularity of breastfeeding – the majority of mothers at Hartford HealthCare hospitals, for example, say they intend to breastfeed – mothers who do not want to or cannot breastfeed are still supported, according to Kara Giroux, the lactation consultant and community education coordinator for Backus and Windham hospitals.

“We know that breastfeeding is the most nutritionally optimal food for all babies,” she says. “But it’s not everyone’s choice. It’s about providing the best care. All mothers are cared for equally and we help them care for their babies in a way that’s best for their families.”

Marshall-Crim agreed, saying, “A Baby-Friendly hospital protects, promotes and supports breastfeeding and a maternal decision to formula feed her baby. The staff’s job is to educate the family on infant feeding.”

Are you a breastfeeding mother seeking support from other moms as well as certified lactation consultants? Hartford HealthCare’s new Facebook support group is just the place. Click here to join. For more information on the breastfeeding services offered at Hartford HealthCare hospitals, click here.

World Breastfeeding Week 2018 at Hartford Hospital

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