We are excited to share that Duke Regional Hospital has earned it’s Baby-Friendly designation! After successfully completing all steps of a rigorous multi-year process that entailed coordination of both outpatient and inpatient education, overcoming supply chain and procurement challenges during a pandemic and demonstrating collaboration across a vast geographical area in the Triangle, Duke Regional Hospital has achieved the prestigious Baby-Friendly® Designation.
This distinguished honor demonstrates that Duke Regional is adhering to the highest standards of care for breastfeeding mothers and their babies. These standards are built on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, a set of evidence-based practices recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for optimal infant feeding support in the first days of a newborn’s life. In cases where patients have a medical indication or have made an informed decision to use formula, resources for the safe preparation and feeding of formula are provided to mothers.
The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding are the broad framework that guide the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. They are as follows:
- 1A. Comply fully with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and relevant World Health Assembly resolutions.
- 1B. Have a written infant feeding policy that is routinely communicated to staff and parents.
- 1C. Establish ongoing monitoring and data-management systems.
- 2. Ensure that staff have sufficient knowledge, competence and skills to support breastfeeding.
- 3. Discuss the importance and management of breastfeeding with pregnant women and their families.
- 4. Facilitate immediate and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact and support mothers to initiate breastfeeding as soon as possible after birth.
- 5. Support mothers to initiate and maintain breastfeeding and manage common difficulties.
- 6. Do not provide breastfed newborns any food or fluids other than breast-milk, unless medically indicated.
- 7. Enable mothers and their infants to remain together and to practice rooming-in 24 hours a day.
- 8. Support mothers to recognize and respond to their infants’ cues for feeding.
- 9. Counsel mothers on the use and risks of feeding bottles, artificial nipples (teats) and pacifiers.
- 10. Coordinate discharge so that parents and their infants have timely access to ongoing support and care.
Read more about Duke’s journey of working towards the Baby-Friendly designation here: https://obgyn.duke.edu/news/duke-regional-hospital-earns-prestigious-baby-friendlyr-designation