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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Rush University Medical Center has received designation as a Baby-Friendly birth facility. This prestigious international honor recognizes Rush as a medical center that provides the optimal level of care for infant feeding and mother-baby bonding. The Baby-Friendly designation is part of a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund.
Being designated as Baby-Friendly means that Rush adheres to The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. Developed by a team of global experts, these steps are evidence-based practices that have been shown to increase the initiation and duration of infant breastfeeding.
“We have created an environment at Rush that focuses on breastfeeding while respecting mothers’ and families’ choices,” explains Carrie Drazba, MD, medical director of the Mother Baby Unit in Rush University Children’s Hospital. “Many of the breastfeeding practices that we promote also promote family bonding.”
Rush does not compel mothers to try to breastfeed, but “we are giving families complete and correct information to support women who choose to breastfeed and help increase their chances to successfully achieve this goal,” Drazba says.
Breastfeeding has big health benefits, but is difficult to sustain
Clinical research, including many Rush-led studies, suggests that breastfeeding can affect a child’s development positively, especially if it is initiated soon after a child is born. “Breastfeeding provides a protective effect against respiratory illnesses, ear infections, gastrointestinal diseases and allergies,” the American Academy of Pediatrics says in its breastfeeding guidelines. The AAP’s recommendations include breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months of a baby’s life and continuing breastfeeding in combination with other foods up to at least age 1.
The World Health Organization calls the breast milk produced at the end of pregnancy is “the perfect food for the newborn.” The WHO recommends that breastfeeding should begin within an hour after birth, that babies should be fed only with breast milk for the first six months, and that they continue to breastfeed in combination with other food for up to two years.
Breastfeeding also has health benefits for mothers: It decreases their risk for diabetes, postpartum depression, breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Breastfeeding also decreases vaginal bleeding and helps the uterus shrink down to normal size more quickly after giving birth.
While 81.1 percent of mothers in the United States start breastfeeding their newborns, only 51.8 percent still were breastfeeding at six months, and the rate dropped to 30.7 percent by 12 months, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention’s “Breastfeeding Report Card” for 2016.
The downtrend over time indicates that “most mothers in the U.S. want to breastfeed and are trying to do so,” according to the report. “However … mothers, in part, may not be getting the support they need, such as from health care providers, family members and employers.”
Private hospital rooms for mothers and newborns promote breastfeeding
The Rush Family Birth Center, which opened in March of 2014, was designed in part to provide this support for breastfeeding and for bonding between mothers and their newborns. After delivery, new mothers and healthy babies spend the duration of their time in the hospital in the center’s Mother Baby Unit, which provides comfortable, spacious private rooms for each mother and her baby, allowing them to remain together while receiving care.
“The new units were specifically designed and built to support breastfeeding,” says Laura Griffith-Gilbert, MSN, director of the Mother Baby Unit. Since all of the baby’s care is provided in the room, it also allows families to ask questions and learn about caring for their newborn.
In addition, Rush nurses and lactation consultants provide mothers with breastfeeding support, including education in breastfeeding principles and techniques. These accommodations and support have increased breastfeeding rates for new moms at Rush from 77 percent in 2011 to more than 84 percent.
Keeping the mother and baby together also allows them to maintain continued skin-to-skin contact. This direct contact promotes mother and baby bonding, stabilizes the mom’s blood pressure and bleeding, regulates the baby’s temperature and blood sugar, stabilizes the baby’s heart rhythm and breathing, supports the baby’s brain function and immune system development, and encourages breastfeeding soon after birth.
Breastfeeding support group helps mothers after they’re home
In addition to breastfeeding support for mothers while they’re in the hospital, Rush offers a weekly breastfeeding support group to help moms continue breastfeeding after they and their babies have gone home. “My baby girl was born on a Tuesday, and I brought her to the first breastfeeding support group meeting the following Monday. I can count on one hand how many meetings I missed while I was off work for three months,” recalls Michelle Hodges, who gave birth to her first child, a daughter, at Rush.
The first member of many generations of her family to breastfeed, Hodges couldn’t turn to relatives for guidance. “Instead I came to rely on the breastfeeding support group at Rush to get me through my breastfeeding adventure,” she says. This assistance helped her meet her goal of continuing to breastfeed for six months and beyond.
New mother Diane Doran also found the Breastfeeding Support Group a crucial support after the birth of her daughter. “It was a safe space for me to bring my newborn, practice breastfeeding in public, and share my doubts and insecurities about parenthood and breastfeeding,” she says.
“Hearing similar stories from other moms reminded me that I wasn’t alone in my struggles,” Doran continues. “Having the support of Nicole (Albold, RN, Rush lactation consultant) and the other moms helped me stick with breastfeeding when I wanted to quit.
“I strongly encourage all breastfeeding moms to look into the support group, wherever they are on their breastfeeding journey.”
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