Representatives from Licking Memorial Hospital (LMH) recently began an initiative to achieve Baby-Friendly Hospital designation, with the goal of becoming the first Baby-Friendly facility in Central Ohio. “This designation recognizes a hospital’s achievement in high standards of maternity care and meeting best practices for infant nutrition,” said Heather Burkhart, Assistant Vice President Inpatient Services. “Currently, 215 U.S. hospitals and birthing centers in 45 states hold the Baby-Friendly designation.”

According to Baby-Friendly USA (BFUSA), hospitals are an important link between the breastfeeding support provided to mothers prior to and after delivery. As part of the initiative, babies stay as close as possible to their mothers after birth, in order to breastfeed when they are ready. Healthy babies and their mothers are able to have early skin to skin contact, and remain close to one another by staying in the same room. Nurses are available to help at any time, if a mother has questions or needs help with breastfeeding.

This evidence-based initiative helps increase health outcomes by encouraging mothers to breastfeed their infants for the best start in life. “The Baby-Friendly initiative focuses on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for infants for the first 6 months of life with continuation of breastfeeding for the first year or longer,” said LMH Lactation Consultant Marcia Fisher. “Breast milk provides the best nutrition, in addition to immunities that are not found in artificially prepared formulas.”

While seeking the Baby-Friendly designation, LMH has compiled an action plan which includes expanding prenatal education for new mothers, additional staff training, increasing data collection, and enhancing patient care for mothers and babies, by strengthening policies.

The facility-wide designation and plan will integrate specific departments that provide care for women of childbearing age, infants and small children. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a global initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); and is implemented in the U.S. by BFUSA.