Congratulations to the 4 Oklahoma Baby Friendly Hospitals. They are: Cherokee Nation WW Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah, Claremore Indian Hospital in Claremore, INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City and just this week Comanche County Memorial Hospital in Lawton became Baby Friendly.
In order to become a Baby Friendly Hospital a hospital must complete each of the following 10 Steps:
- Step 1 – Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
- Step 2 – Train all health care staff in the skills necessary to implement this policy.
- Step 3 – Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
- Step 4 – Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
- Step 5 – Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
- Step 6 – Give infants no food or drink other than breast-milk, unless medically indicated.
- Step 7 – Practice rooming in – allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
- Step 8 – Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
- Step 9 – Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
- Step 10 – Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or birth center.
“By my quick calculation, with 52,000 births per year, we now have over 10% of Oklahoma babies born in a Baby Friendly designated hospital.”
Becky Mannel, BS, IBCLC, FILCA
Director, Oklahoma Breastfeeding Resource Center
Becoming Baby Friendly in Oklahoma Project Lead
For more information about making your facility a Baby Friendly facility contact Becky at rebecca-mannel@ouhsc.edu or 405-271-4350.