Baby Friendly Hospitals

mrsrich3 · August 2014

I found this information under an article called Yes, You Can Breastfeed Your Baby.

Only 4% of hospitals hold the title of baby-friendly.

In order for hospitals to be designated as baby-friendly hospitals they must adhere to these 10 steps:

Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
Train all health care staff in the 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 breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
Give infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.
Practice "rooming-in." That is allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
Foster the establishment of breastfeeding in support groups, and refer mothers to them upon discharge from the hospital or birth center.

I didn't really realize that giving a baby a pacifier when it's trying to get used to breastfeeding could make the process harder!

Here is a link to the hospitals that make the baby-friendly list:

https://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/find-facilities

moroccojade · August 2014

Only 4 percent of hospitals adhere to these guidelines? That's really sad.

lizgrace03 · August 2014

I was surprised not to see my hospital here. There aren't even any in my city that made the cut... I'm thinking maybe #s 9 and 10 may be the culprits. I know they do breast feeding assistance, rooming in, skin to skin etc. Are pacifiers really that bad?

moroccojade · August 2014

Econosaurus said:

Only 4 percent of hospitals adhere to these guidelines? That's really sad.
No, only 4% have chosen to pay and go through the process of being accredited by that organization. Also I have found it's a nice idea but the attitude towards implementation can vary widely. At our old hospital they gave me fliers at every appointment that told me all the many ways in which how I will harm my baby for life with formula. It was very intense and made me uncomfortable. I know that's absolutely not all places but you have to take it with a grain of salt.

Thanks for clearing that up!

CPM13 · August 2014

Econosaurus said:

Only 4 percent of hospitals adhere to these guidelines? That's really sad.
No, only 4% have chosen to pay and go through the process of being accredited by that organization.

Thanks for explaining that @econosaurus. My hospital wasn't on the list but does all those things. I was confused!

Allisonville · August 2014

Maybe I'm getting hung up on semantics, but I kind of hate that they're trying to make "baby friendly" synonymous with "breastfeeding".

It seems like an awesome initiative and I love that they're putting policy into place to inform/educate new moms about breastfeeding. However, not breastfeeding doesn't make one non-baby friendly.

mb314 · August 2014

My hospital isn't on here, but when I had DS they practiced all of that stuff. I liked that they were supportive of breast feeding but a nurse would come in every hour it seemed to get me to have DS nursing. I was fully intending to nurse ( and did so for 20 months) but the day he was born he was more interested in sleeping and the "help" was a bit much at times. There were too many different people giving me advice. In the end the actual lactation consultant was the most helpful.

I agree that the term baby friendly is a little overboard. Breast feeding friendly is more appropriate.

rahkitt · August 2014

Mine's on the list, I was pretty sure it would be!

morrkim · August 2014

I can't get the link to work, but I it wouldn't surprise me off mine is on the list. I know the hospital where I delivered dd was not. They hardly helped me at all with bf. My friend came and helped and they basically told us not to do it the way we were doing it.

They also gave her a pacifier, but I had no issues. I actually read an article about how moms that gave pacifiers were more likely to stick with bf. I don't remember where I read it or I would share it.

2ndGeneration · August 2014

The hospital I am using is on the list, which is new since last time I had a baby there, 11 years ago.

The stuff they do sounds pretty much like what they did then-but even then was a change from my first birth in 1992, where I had to note in my chart and INSIST that my ds NOT be taken to the nursery. I had to pay extra for a private room if I wanted baby to room in (that changed by birth 2, they are all private, and my mom went ballistic and they gave me a private for no extra) and I was sent home with a diaper bag full of formula samples. It was an awesome bag, I used it for years lol.

It would have been easy to fail at bf then, had I not been so determined. I think the changes are for good. I do believe that a mom's choice to ff should be respected as well.

morrkim · August 2014

ClrkKntismyAE said:
@morrkim Was it this one?

https://m.today.com/parents/no-more-nipple-confusion-study-says-pacifiers-may-help-breast-743227

I'm not sure, but I think it was the same study.

MmmPopcorn · August 2014

Our hospital is in the process of applying for the certification. They have a huge department of lactation specialists and almost exclusively practice rooming-in, and I'm curious to see how all of that goes.

Thanks for sharing!

belmont1785 · August 2014

This was a the number one requirement I had when we chose our hospital. I am SO happy to be delivering at one...my main concern was wanting skin to skin contact immediately following birth no matter WHAT kind of delivery it is.

venussapphire · September 2014

belmont1785 said:

This was a the number one requirement I had when we chose our hospital. I am SO happy to be delivering at one...my main concern was wanting skin to skin contact immediately following birth no matter WHAT kind of delivery it is.

@belmont1785 I am having this LO at a different hospital this time and this is my number 1 question.I had a c-section with DD and they held her up to me and let me touch her with my one free hand for many 30 seconds. Then i didn't see her for 3+ hours. Horrible.

meeshybee · September 2014

I'm glad that my hospital isn't on there (I only saw 3 for the entire state). I FF for non-medical reasons, and it seems that society in general is pushing BF'ing as the only acceptable way. For all the BF mommas, great job! More power to you! But it's not for me and I think I have a right not to be bullied about it after I politely decline.

mockingjay1 · September 2014

The hospital I work at/will deliver at used to be baby friendly. Since we opened a new hospital with a NICU, we dropped the "baby friend" designation. We got an email saying we could get a really good deal from similac (price wise) for our NICU babies who don't qualify for donor milk based on our policies (less than 34 weeks) or that need two bottles of neosure a day on top of breast milk for their bone growth.

It was going to save the hospital a lot of money to accept the deal with similac, but because of it we didn't fit the baby friendly requirements anymore (or at least that is how it was explained to us). I know L&D and mother baby still practice as if we were baby friendly, and in the NICU if we can we usually wait at least 3 days for mom's milk to come in before we think about giving formula. We do however give pacifiers to pretty much every baby in the NICU for painful procedures (IV pokes, lab draws, etc).

meeshybee · September 2014

@lovebuggies1 - I completely agree with your mom. My own mom gave me a hard time about FF my first because she was pushed so hard to FF when she wanted to BF. The irony was completely lost on her.

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