UAMS Medical Center is the only hospital in central Arkansas to have received international recognition as “baby-friendly” for its policies and procedures encouraging new mothers to breastfeed as a healthier way to feed their babies.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative in 1991 as a global program to assist hospitals in giving all mothers the information, confidence, and skills necessary to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) delivers more than 3,000 babies a year. To achieve the “baby-friendly” designation, UAMS completed rigorous requirements in each of four phases and passed an on-site assessment.
The effort was initiated by Ginny Smith, RN, MSN, women and infants nursing director, and Neonatologist Misty Virmani, MD, and led by Becky Sartini, DNP, assistant director of nursing for the neonatal intensive care unit.
“This shows that UAMS stands behind evidence-based efforts to promote breastfeeding,” said Sartini. “Breastfeeding is the foundation for a healthier life, not just for the baby, but for the mother.”
Breastmilk contains antibodies that help babies fight off viruses and bacteria, reduce the risk of developing allergies and respiratory illnesses, and lower the risk of obesity. For the mother, breastfeeding lowers the risk of breast and ovarian cancer and osteoporosis.
UAMS Medical Center joins five other hospitals across the state in obtaining the “baby-friendly” designation, awarded by Baby-Friendly USA Inc., the accrediting body for the hospital initiative.
The designation requires verification of policies, curriculum, action plans, quality improvement projects, and staff training. Also included are competency verification, a readiness interview, and an on-site survey.
“We had to train 350 physicians and nurses and had to build training modules going forward,” said Smith. “I am very proud because I know all the hard work people put into this.”
Breastfeeding is one of nine priority areas of Healthy Active Arkansas, a 10-year plan announced in 2015 by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to provide community-based efforts to reduce obesity. UAMS co-chairs the plan’s breastfeeding committee with Baptist Health.
Hospitals provide a unique and critical link between the breastfeeding support provided before and after delivery. Mothers who give birth at “baby-friendly” hospitals and birthing centers are more likely to initiate exclusive breastfeeding and more likely to sustain breastfeeding at six months and one year of age.
The Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative encourages maternity facilities throughout the world to adhere to the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. The steps are:
-Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all healthcare staff.
-Train all healthcare 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 by allowing 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 support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or birth center.
Adhering to the Ten Steps is associated with increased rates of breastfeeding around the world. Also, adhering to the Ten Steps decreases racial, ethnic, and socio-cultural disparities in breastfeeding rates in United States hospitals.