Mission has just been certified "Baby Friendly" by the WHO and UNICEF. It's the only hospital in North Carolina to have this designation so far, and one of 96 in the country. To see a full list and read more about this designation, see: http://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/eng/03.html.
"BFHI promotes, protects, and supports breastfeeding through The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding for Hospitals, as outlined by UNICEF/WHO. The steps for the United States are:
| 1 - | Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff. |
| 2 - | Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy. |
| 3 - | Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding. |
| 4 - | Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth. |
| 5 - | Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants. |
| 6 - | Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breastmilk, unless medically indicated. |
| 7 - | Practice “rooming in”-- allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day. |
| 8 - | Encourage breastfeeding on demand. |
| 9 - | Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants. |
| 10 - | Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic" |
As you can see, breastfeeding is the big push here. But where does this leave formula companies? At the class the other day (sponsored by my OB's office), we were given gift bags donated by Enfi.mil. The can of formula in the bag made sense, given the sponsor. But the "surprise" came when I opened the box labeled for breastfeeding mothers. It contained a book about breastfeeding. That was good. It also included two bottles of pre-mixed formula, a bottle nipple, and individual packs of formula. Not good.
At least I don't have to worry about the hospital using formula, or sticking a pacifier in Dot's mouth while he/she is in the nursery. How do I know this? Because Mission doesn't even have a nursery anymore. Dot will be with me. All. The. Time. I'm excited about this.
And in other news, I'm making progress. The nursery will be painted this weekend, and I'll be washing clothes too. And celebrating my birthday! It should be a pretty good one. :)
