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May 2015 Moms
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"Baby Friendly" Hospital Designation

katietopazkatietopaz member
in May 2015 Moms
When my OB first mentioned that the hospital we'll be delivering at has a "Baby Friendly" designation, I'll admit the first thing that went through my mind was...well, I certainly hope you're friendly toward babies! After some Googling, I think I have a better idea of what exactly that means. It sounds like the main thing is that they're all about BF-ing, which works for me because I would like to BF.

I'm curious if any STMs+ here have had any experience with delivering at a Baby Friendly designated hospital. Were there any particular pros or cons about it? For example, I noticed that one of the requirements is that no pacifiers or bottles can be given to the baby. That's not something I've looked into, to be fair, but is that the norm if you're BF-ing (even at a non "Baby Friendly" hospital)?

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Re: "Baby Friendly" Hospital Designation

  • lgsdesignerlgsdesigner member
    I delivered at a hospital like this. Very pro breast feeding, and even send in a lactation consultant to help you. They also don't allow any formula samples in your room unless you want them, and will not give your child a pacifier unless you allow it. I loved it because they respect your wishes and make sure you feel as comfortable as possible with your environment during your stay.
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  • katietopazkatietopaz member
    Interesting, sounds like some similar situations. This particular designation is given by WHO and UNICEF, and it looks like 215 hospitals have it, most on the west coast.

    It looks like they also have the babies stay in the room with the mother round the clock, I assume with the exception of any needed testing. All of their L&D staff have to be trained in helping initiating BF-ing...whatever that means. I wonder if that means there are still separate, specifically-trained LCs available.

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  • CTcoffeequeenCTcoffeequeen member
    My local hospital where I delivered my son is "baby friendly" accredited. I delivered on a Saturday evening and never saw a LC before I was discharged, and we could not latch on our own. Sure, they may not give pacifiers, but they'll let baby suck on their finger (they usually ask) or give sugar water during labs. At my particular hospital, I didn't see a huge breastfeeding push. I would hope others are different. Good thing I was determined.
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  • Jillibean68Jillibean68 member
    I delivered my DS at a baby friendly hospital. Basically they support and promote BF, the baby rooms in with the mother (not the nursery), they don't give pacifiers or bottles unless specifically asked for. (I asked for one for DS because he was using me as a pacifier and I was bleeding because of it). They had LCs on hand and available anytime day or night and all of the nurses were LC trained. They also had one nurse for me and one for him (usually the night nurse was for both of us, but there was a seperate one for daytime).
    I'll be delivering at the same hospital this time around.
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  • Pintobean39Pintobean39 member
    The hospital I delivered my youngest son at almost 16 years ago sounded a lot like this. The problem was, I wasn't breast feeding. So I got a lecture from the lactation nazi. They put me in a room and wouldn't let me keep my son in the room with me at night told me he had to go to the nursery because I wasn't breastfeeding. I never saw anyone the whole night and only briefly the next morning before discharge and for them to give me my son back.

    The hospital I'm delivering at now basically does the same things to promote breastfeeding BUT they don't treat non breastfeeding mothers any differently. I'll be able to have my baby with me the entire time if I choose.

    I want to breastfeed but I have a muscle condition that causes my legs to tighten up and I can't walk. The meds I take can't be taken while breastfeeding. The beauty is while pregnant it goes away but in the past after all my miscarriages it hit me hard soon after my miscarriages. So i don't know if I'm going to be able to or not and I'll be damn if I have some lactation nazi come in and treat me like shit again if I can't.
    Fucking bump!!!!
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  • FreddyisReadyFreddyisReady member
    I'm a FTM, but I know a lot about my baby-friendly hospital. In addition to what others have said about breast feeding, lactation consultants, skin to skin, my hospital also offers midwives who work with you to offer your tailored birth plan. They allow birthing balls, have water tubs for labor, and allow mothers to labor in any position with limited fetal monitoring (assuming a normal birth). They delay cord clamping too. They treat mothers as real people, not just another insurance payment.
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  • MallyJM128MallyJM128 member
    I work mother/baby in a hospital that isn't "baby friendly" certified or whatever, but looking through the lists PPs have posted we cover majority of those anyway. Just wanted to put my two cents in that even if you don't deliver at a "baby friendly" hospital, it doesn't mean you aren't going to have the experience you want. Come with your birth plan and be an advocate for yourself. Our hospital is very pro-breastfeeding and though we are told to discourage pacifiers/artificial nipples, I would never refuse that to a mom who asked me even if she's breastfeeding.

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  • Pintobean39Pintobean39 member
    shmeell25 said:

    I delivered at a Baby Friendly hospital, and will again this time. For us, it meant DD was never offered any formula (they would have if I had asked) and I didn't get a gift bag from the formula companies when we left. I think we could have gotten pacifiers if we had asked also, but we didn't offer one til 2 weeks anyway. I don't know how different it is than a non baby friendly hospital though as my only experience has been in one.

    I've honestly never hear of a non baby friendly hospital. In my experience they all won't give your baby formula if you are breastfeeding or give them pacifiers unless you ask.


    Is this a new thing having the hospital certified??? Is it something like Joint Commission coming in to make sure they are in compliance or is it just paperwork that's filled out to get the certification? I want to know how they get this certification.
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  • mpiemontmpiemont member
    DS2 was born at a baby friendly designated hospital. It had no well-baby nursery at all. Unless your baby was in the NICU, baby stayed with you. That was fine by me- I didn't want him to go anywhere. But I know on our hospital tour, a few C-section mamas were concerned about having the baby full time while recovering from major surgery. I guess that could be a negative, but I have never had a c section so I am not sure. The lactation consultant I saw wasn't really that great (I was there over the weekend) but she was readily available and the nurses were very helpful. I was pressured to give DS1 formula (at a different hospital) and I did not have a great experience there.
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    DS1 born 4/17/11
    DS2 born 2/22/13
    MMC 5/16/14@8w2d
    DD due 5/9/15 Please be our     RAINBOW

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  • JenGrl8503JenGrl8503 member
    I worked for a hospital system (in HR but we heard plenty from the nurses) that was going through the process of becoming baby friendly and there are some really strict rules the nurses have to follow and our nurses hated it because they couldn't support the moms' decisions and really give individualized care....that being said, I think once the designation is acheived, hospitals tend to back down on some of the more stringent rules (allowing pacifiers, having a nursery available if wanted, etc).

    As a third time mommy I would have HATED the no pacifier rule and the no nursery option. I breastfed both of my daughters (DD2 is still nursing at 17 months). DD1 thought I was a pacifier and I wouldn't have slept in the hospital if a pacifier hadn't been allowed. I also took advantage of the nursery...only at night and only after I got her to sleep and with it well known that she was to be brought back as soon as she woke up. As a first time mom I couldn't fall asleep the first night...every sigh, every wiggle, etc had me sitting up and checking on her. Knowing she was sleeping in a nursery staffed by 2 nurses allowed me to finally relax enough to sleep which allowed me to go home in a much better state than I otherwise would have.

    DD2 didn't care for the pacifier but again I took advantage of the nursery at night...I was going to go home to care for a newborn and an 18 month old...I needed every advantage I could get. The 2nd night I had a nurse who was new to the unit and had clearly just been thru baby friendly training and I had to fight to get her to take my daughter to the nursery and to let her sleep...the nurse wanted her woken up and brought back after 2 hours....the night before she had woken to eat every 4 hours naturally and so I fought and lo and behold she woke up naturally right at 4 hours.

    Sorry soooo long....most baby friendly aspects are awesome, and the ones I didn't like aren't actually strictly policed most places.
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  • katietopazkatietopaz member
    Pintobean39 said:
    I delivered at a Baby Friendly hospital, and will again this time. For us, it meant DD was never offered any formula (they would have if I had asked) and I didn't get a gift bag from the formula companies when we left. I think we could have gotten pacifiers if we had asked also, but we didn't offer one til 2 weeks anyway. I don't know how different it is than a non baby friendly hospital though as my only experience has been in one.
    I've honestly never hear of a non baby friendly hospital. In my experience they all won't give your baby formula if you are breastfeeding or give them pacifiers unless you ask. Is this a new thing having the hospital certified??? Is it something like Joint Commission coming in to make sure they are in compliance or is it just paperwork that's filled out to get the certification? I want to know how they get this certification.
    @PintoBean39 Here's a link with some more info: https://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/bfhi/en/  And it looks like about 215 hospitals in the US have this certification.

    Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences, it's interesting to hear. I hope that they won't be super pushy about all of those 10 steps (for example, if I wanted to give my child a pacifier) but I'll probably get some of those questions answered when we go on our hospital/L&D unit tour.

    It sounds like there are those basic requirements that they meet, but that there's a degree of flex from hospital to hospital, even within that certification.

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  • wlrtimes2wlrtimes2 member
    edited November 2014
    I am about to give you a super biased answer. I worked on an LND unit at a baby friendly hospital for 4+ years until I moved a few months ago. In my super biased opinion there are no cons. The staff is trained to encourage skin to skin, breastfeeding, no pacifier use, etc. But we are also taught that although this is to be our standard care, every woman and delivery is different. If a Mom didn't want to breastfeed, she wasn't forced to. I would recommend getting a tour of the unit at your hospital and they can tell you about the certifications the hospital goes through to become "baby friendly". They have to do a lot training. Honestly, I am super jealous!! I don't live near a baby friendly hospital anymore :(
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  • lakingsfan2015lakingsfan2015 member
    The only thing that I didn't like about my experience at the "baby friendly" hospital was the no pacifier rule. We weren't even allowed to bring in our own. It was as if the pacifier would destroy everything if I brought it in the hospital. I am sure the nurses could have explained it differently in a different tone and I would feel that way. I was able to send him to the nurses, even though there wasn't a well-baby nursery.
    -----
    DS1:15 
    DS2: 8
    DS3: 2
    Due May 2015 with twin GIRLS!

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  • nicunursetomommynicunursetomommy member
    @SoyBoy Looks like we are delivering at the same place!
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  • jesslfarjesslfar member
    I have to be honest. If I could find a hospital that is not baby friendly I would pick it for this delivery myself.  My reason is they cannot take the baby when you need help.  With my last birth I had a c section and was pretty high on medication.  The medication made me itch so they gave me benadryl.  I have another child my husband had to go home to care for at dinner time, so I was alone, sleepy and heavily medicated after major surgery all evening.  They did not mention they would not take the baby during my tour.  I begged them to take the child.  I could not get in and out of bed to care for her when she cried.  Another infant died the same year at another hospital because the mother smothered the child (yes, common occurance in medicated parents, especially while breastfeeding if you have large breasts) so the nurses kept telling me how unsafe it was for me to have the baby in bed with me.  They would not take the baby while I showered and for safety you have to shove the baby in the bed into the bathroom with you.  This meant I had to shower with the door open and the crib halfway into the bathroom which involved more shoving than someone who has had surgery should do.  It was not an ideal situation and the nurses told me they were not allowed to take my child because she was not sick.  They had the staff, but could not take her. I slept maybe an hour all night trying to not kill my baby.  I got a nurse during the day who took pity on me since I was alone almost my whole stay and my baby made a ton of noises and she let me sleep for a couple of hours during the day one time, probably the only 2 hour stretch I got.

    The good things are they are pro breastfeeding and do try to not let you out of it.  This is a bad thing if you don't want to breastfeed or are like myself an experienced breastfeeding parent who just wants a pacifier.  It took a good hour and me having to speak with the lacatation consultant and proving to the nurses I knew how to breastfeed to get a pacifier.
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  • jesslfarjesslfar member
    In the baby friendly hospital:
    I guess this is a plus for most, not ideal if you are caring for the baby alone, but following my c section the baby never left me.  Once she was stable she was placed on my chest and was wheeled out of the OR that way.  I never went to recovery.  They wheeled me back to the labor room and we stayed there until they decided I could go to the after part of the wing, so my husband was also never away from the baby and we had a nurse with us for at least the first hour.  Once we moved to the other side we were alone with the baby.  This wasn't our first so we were fine and DH was still there a few hours.

    -No formula samples in bf hospitals.  Awesome if you are not wanting to be tempted, but not so great if you cannot bf.  They used to have samples at the doctor and the hospital which saved women a lot of money. 
    -I don't think the bf nurses were much better educated about LC than the ones at the non BF hospital I delivered at.
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  • FairfaxMom26FairfaxMom26 member
    Thanks for all this info.  Part of me is just terrified of what will happen to me once I go to the hospital and people might make more or my baby do something I don't want, especially during labor.  But I'm sure I'll go to one... because I want emergency care available and maybe an epid. option.
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  • KellyFM522KellyFM522 member
    What everyone else has said. Check out NYUbaby.org if you want to see a specific hospitals policies. I'm excited to be delivering there again.

    Duke Winter 10/11/12
    Baby Duex 05/20/15

    NYC Momma 

    "My stroller is my SUV"
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