According to the CDC, "Breastfeeding is an investment in health, not just a lifestyle decision." The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends exclusive breastfeeding for at least the first six months of your baby's life. It can boost your baby’s immune system and protect them from certain illnesses for life. Health benefits for mothers include reduced risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancers, cardiovascular disease and more.
Did you know that AdventHealth Daytona Beach and AdventHealth Celebration are Baby-Friendly® designated hospitals? Keep reading to find out what it means for you and your baby's lifelong health to have this important designation when choosing a location for your delivery.
Why Being Baby-Friendly® Matters
Breast milk contains everything your baby needs to grow and develop. It provides at least 200 nutrients, a mix of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants designed just for your little one.
Mothers who give birth at Baby-Friendly® designated hospitals are likelier to bottle exclusive breastfeeding and sustain birth from months through the first year of their baby's life. This is crucial for their healthy development, not just in their earliest months and years, but as building blocks for a healthy life of wholeness.
So, what does it mean to be a Baby-Friendly® designated hospital? Among the many benefits of giving birth at a Baby-Friendly® designated hospital include:
- Providing mothers with the information, confidence and skills needed to initiate and continue breastfeeding
- Providing information for the safe preparation and feeding of formula to mothers who choose not to breastfeed
- Promoting and encouraging skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth and throughout the hospital stay for all babies regardless of feeding method
- Promotes rooming-in, which allows mother and baby to stay in the same room during their hospital stay for all babies regardless of feeding method
- Provides care after discharge, including support groups, breastfeeding warm line and private lactation consultations
What Are the Steps to Become a Designated Baby-Friendly® Hospital?
- Hospital Policies: Hospitals support breastfeeding by making breastfeeding care the standard practice and keeping track of support for breastfeeding
- Staff Competency: Our staff is trained in supporting mothers to breastfeed and access health workers’ knowledge and skills
- Antenatal Care: Discuss the importance of breastfeeding for babies and mothers. Also, it helps prepare women to feed their baby
- Care After Birth: Encourage skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby soon after birth and help mothers immediately put their baby on their breast. Skin-to-skin contact has many benefits for all babies regardless of feeding preference.
- Support Breastfeeding Mothers: Check positioning, attachment and suckling; give practical breastfeeding support; help mothers with common breastfeeding issues
- Supplementing: Give only breast milk unless there are medical reasons not to; prioritize donor human milk when a supplement is necessary; help mothers who want to formula-feed do so safely
- Rooming-In: Let mothers and babies stay together day and night; make sure that mothers of sick babies can stay near their child
- Responsive Feeding: Help mothers know when their baby is hungry; do not limit breastfeeding times
- Bottles, Nipples and Pacifiers: Counsel mothers on the use and risks of feeding bottles, teats and pacifiers and their impact on breastfeeding
- Discharge: Refer mothers to community resources for breastfeeding support; work with communities to improve breastfeeding support services
In the United States, new mothers who were exposed to at least six of the 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding were 13 times more likely to continue breastfeeding at six weeks postpartum than mothers who had not been exposed to any of these steps during their birthing hospitalization.
We’re Baby-Friendly®
At AdventHealth Daytona Beach and AdventHealth Celebration, we’re humbled to be designated Baby-Friendly® hospitals. Our compassionate, expert teams look forward to getting you and your baby on the right path toward a healthy, happy breastfeeding journey from day one.
To learn more or get connected, visit https://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/
