Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Through Bestfed Beginnings

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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

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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%

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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 

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Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative at St. Vincent

Team includes:administrative leaderdepartment leaderlactation staffmidwifepeds and OB providersnursing educatorclinic leadershipstaff nursesmother advocate

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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 sessionswebinarsilab where stats shown group sharing

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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

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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

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Training Tools

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In Pursuit of Baby Friendly Designation

• Questions