Nebraska Breastfeeding Coalition

Nebraska Breastfeeding Coalition

Azusa photo

Healthcare Success Story

Azusa, first time mother of a 4 month old son
While breastfeeding is such a natural way to feed my baby, it does not mean that I found it easy in the beginning. When I was pregnant, my friend encouraged me to take a breastfeeding class. The class helped to learn and be able to ask questions. Read more...

In this Section

Overview

The US Surgeon General has identified breastfeeding as a major factor in the health of our infants and our communities.  Five Healthy People 2010 goals are dedicated to improving initiation and duration rates, as well as the exclusivity of breastfeeding. The Department of Health and Human Services Blueprint for Action on Breastfeeding highlights the hospital stay as an influential experience relative to breastfeeding. Improving practices and policies in the maternity care setting has been identified as one of the most effective strategies for simultaneously addressing all five of the Healthy People 2010 breastfeeding goals.

Support for breastfeeding mothers should be provided as part of routine health care.  Birth facility policies and practices that create a supportive environment for breastfeeding should begin prenatally and continue through discharge.  This support should include trained health-care workers, lay and peer counselors, access to certified lactation consultants and hospital breastfeeding friendly policies and practices.  All of these components are critical to build mothers’ confidence, improve their feeding techniques, and prevent or resolve breastfeeding problems.

The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding for Hospitals and Birth Centers, were outlined by UNICEF/WHO and include:

  1. Maintain a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
  2. Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
  3. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
  4. Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
  5. Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
  6. Give infants no food or drink other than breastmilk, unless medically indicated.
  7. Practice “rooming in”-- allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
  8. Encourage unrestricted breastfeeding.
  9. Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
  10. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic

Source:  http://www.unicef.org/programme/breastfeeding/baby.htm#10