The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is on a roll!

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Vergie Hughes
Sunday, 23 November 2014
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Hospitals which are attempting to initiate Baby-Friendly practices have received a lot of press recently. Not always does the reporter get the details right. Sometimes the headline is negative, but the story is essentially positive.

But at least people are taking notice of the movement! Here is just a sampling of what has been published recently.

Hospital Support for Breastfeeding: On the Cusp of Big Changes, Time to Step It Up

http://altarum.org/health-policy-blog/hospital-support-for-breastfeeding-on-the-cusp-of-big-changes-time-to-step-it-up

'Baby-friendly' hospitals: Moms give new measures mixed reviews

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20141027/entlife/141029161/

Local hospitals strive to offer a balance of maternity options

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20141027/entlife/141029160/

UNM Hospital receives prestigious “Baby-Friendly” designation

http://hscnews.unm.edu/news/unm-hospital-receives-prestigious-baby-friendly-designation110414

No Nursery, No Formula, No Pacifier: Are “baby-friendly” hospitals unfriendly to new mothers?

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/10/baby_friendly_hospitals_promoting_breast_feeding_at_the_expense_of_the_new.html

In the article published in Slate, the journalist quotes a study that says formula use promotes breastfeeding by relieving maternal stress. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23669513

But she neglects to address the main reason why exclusive breastfeeding is so important, the changes in the newborn gut from even limited amounts of formula. Here are just a few selected research articles related to the importance of gut flora and how it can be impacted by breastmilk or formula.

Effect of breast and formula feeding on gut microbiota shaping in newborns http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3472256/pdf/fcimb-02-00094.pdf

Effect of formula composition on the development of infant gut microbiota.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21593648

Maternal factors pre- and during delivery contribute to gut microbiota shaping in newborns. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3417649/pdf/fcimb-02-00093.pdf

Human gut microbiota: onset and shaping through life stages and perturbations. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3505007/

The long-term health effects of neonatal microbial flora

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19398905

I suspect, as more and more hospitals become Baby-Friendly and institute policies that promote exclusive breastfeeding, the rhetoric will heighten even further.

Congratulations to those over 215 hospitals who have achieved Baby-Friendly Hospital designation. Lactation Education Resources is proud to have been a part in the educational preparation for designation in many of these hospitals. There are currently 250+ hospitals using the LER training.

At present, only 9.4 of the births in the US occur in Baby-Friendly hospitals. Let’s not stop until we have 100%!!

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About the author

Vergie Hughes

Vergie Hughes has a long history of experience in Maternal Child Health including labor and delivery, post-partum and pediatrics, and for the past 25 years she has been involved in lactation management. Ms. Hughes has a BSN from Pacific Lutheran University and a MS from Georgetown University. She has been a board certified lactation consultant since 1985. At Georgetown University Hospital, she was the director of the Human Milk Bank. She created and developed the National Capitol Lactation Center and the one week Lactation Consultant Training Program. This course has trained more than 4,000 Lactation Consultants since its inception in 1990.

She has been a private practice lactation consultant and business owner, and operated her own lactation center, Washington’s Families First. Lactation Education Resources On-Line is her website, offering training to professionals and information to parents as well. Ms. Hughes has served on the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners and has served on the IBLCE exam writing committee. Her first love is teaching and that is exemplified by the creativity of the courses she has developed. A series of courses “The In-patient Breastfeeding Specialist,” "The Out-patient Breastfeeding Specialist” and “The NICU Breastfeeding Specialist” are all designed to advance the lactation management skills of nurses at the bedside. She regularly teaches skills to labor and delivery nurses and just recently developed the course “Towards Exclusive Breastfeeding.”

Ms. Hughes is the program director and content manager for all of the on-line Lactation Education Resources courses. Ms. Hughes was recently honored with a “lifetime achievement award” as Fellow of the International Lactation Consultant Association (FILCA).