What It Means To Be a Baby-Friendly Hospital

The Birth Centers at the San Martín and Siena Campuses are the first in southern Nevada to earn the prestigious Baby-Friendly USA designations. Hospitals with the Baby-Friendly designation have a demonstrably higher level of expertise in support and education of mothers interested in breastfeeding their newborns.

The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a global program launched by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund to encourage and recognize hospitals that offer an optimal level of care for infant feeding and mother/baby bonding.

Based on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, this prestigious international award recognizes birth facilities that offer breastfeeding mothers the information, confidence, and skills needed to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies.

The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding

  1. Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all healthcare staff.
  2. Train all healthcare staff in the 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 infants no food or drink other than breast milk, 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 birth center.

How Our San Martín Birth Center Maintains This Designation

Becoming a Baby-Friendly facility is a comprehensive, detailed, and thorough journey toward excellence in providing evidence-based maternity care, with the goal of achieving optimal infant feeding outcomes and mother/baby bonding. It compels facilities to examine, challenge, and modify long-standing policies and procedures. It requires training and skill building among all levels of staff. It entails implementing audit processes to assure quality in all aspects of maternity care operations, enhances patient satisfaction, and improves health outcomes.

Interested in Exploring Our San Martín Birth Center?

We understand that you have options when choosing a doctor and hospital for your pregnancy journey, so we’d love to show you around our San Martín Birth Center and answer any of your questions. Together, we can help you make this once-in-a-lifetime experience as special as it deserves to be.

Take a Virtual Tour