Good news for babies. New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s Betty H. Cameron Women’s and Children’s Hospital recently received designation as a “Baby-Friendly” facility.

The designation recognizes hospitals and birthing centers that offer “an optimal level of family-centered care and education on infant feeding and mother/baby bonding,” according to an NHRMC news release.

The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a global program launched in 1991 by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

The initiative helps hospitals “in giving all mothers the information, confidence and skills necessary to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies or feeding formula safely,” the release said.

Becoming a Baby-Friendly facility “is a comprehensive, detailed and thorough journey toward excellence in providing maternity care services that support mother/baby bonding,” it added.

“I am incredibly proud of our team for attaining Baby-Friendly Hospital designation,” Barbara Buechler, administrator of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, said in the release. “This achievement demonstrates NHRMC’s commitment to excellence, commitment to continuous improvement and our commitment to family-centered care.”

The designation process started with NHRMC’s participation in the Best Fed Beginnings collaborative program, a nationwide quality improvement initiative to help hospitals improve maternity care. NHRMC staff also worked to develop education modules for patients and hospital staff.

The educational tools led to the implementation of evidence-based practices such as keeping moms and babies in the same room throughout their hospital stay, frequent skin-to-skin contact between parents and babies and initiating breastfeeding within one hour of birth.

“Our staff embraced the opportunity to focus on family-centered care and the benefits breastfeeding brings to the infant and mother,” Women’s and Children’s Hospital lactation
program coordinator Gigi Lawless said in the release.

“We recognize that for women who plan to breastfeed, the hospital experience strongly influences their ability to start and continue breastfeeding,” Lawless said. “We are committed to implementing evidence-based practices, ensuring mothers delivering in our facility who intend to breastfeed are fully supported.”