St. Clare’s Medical Center, Inc. is a mother-baby friendly hospital. If you are a breastfeeding mother who needs support, our nursery staff and pediatric nurses are trained to help breastfeeding moms and provide nursing support.
If you are a breastfeeding mother interested in a consultation, come and visit a primary care provider at our hospital.
The Mother-Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Program of the Department of Health was launched in 1992 pursuant to RA 7600 otherwise known as the “Rooming-In and Breastfeeding Act of 1992”. To implement this Act, all hospitals, both government and private offering maternity and newborn care services may be accredited as Mother-Baby Friendly by implementing the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding which is a nationally adopted UNICEF/WHO global criteria.
The Mother-Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (MBFHI) aims to facilitate and protect breastfeeding in private and public hospitals and help mothers and their newborns start with breastfeeding soon after birth. MBFHI in the Philippines reached a peak in the late nineties, when the Department of Health certified 1,427 or 83% of the 1,713 targeted hospitals and lying-in clinics.
Skin-to-skin contact has been shown to have numerous benefits for newborns, including stable vital signs, less crying, and improved feeding and digestion. It can also help mothers with pain management and milk production
The International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes is a set of guidelines adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1981 to restrict the marketing of breast milk substitutes, infant feeding bottles, and teats.The code is intended to discourage the use of breast milk substitutes and encourage breastfeeding.
Hospitals and birthing centers that wish to attain and retain the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) designation, a global program launched by the WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund in 1991, must adhere to the provisions of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes.
The BFHI recognizes hospitals and birthing centers that provide optimal care for infant feeding and mother-baby bonding, with an emphasis on breastfeeding. Baby-friendly care includes immediate skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby after delivery, keeping mother and baby together even during routine assessments, and providing breastfeeding support by trained nursing staff.
Protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding.
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Steps
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Guidelines
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1. Development of a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely
communicated to all health care staff.
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Implementation of a current breastfeeding protocol that has been
communicated to all staff during orientation or during department
level meetings.
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2. Training of all health care staff in skills necessary to implement the policy on breastfeeding within the first six months upon entry into the hospital.
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Schedule of staff that will attend in-service training that teach the skills necessary to implement the breastfeeding protocol.
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3. Providing information to all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding in the OPD during pre-natal and in the wards during the postpartum period.
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Written, non-commercial pre-natal information on breastfeeding. Schedule of parents referred to breastfeeding classes / childbirth education classes.
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4. Assisting mothers to initiate breastfeeding within one hour after birth for normal spontaneous deliveries and within 3-4 hours after birth for C/S deliveries.
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Infant is placed on the mother's chest to promote pre-feeding sequence of behavior that leads to proper latching and sucking
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5. Training mothers how to breastfeed and maintain lactation, even if they should be separated from their infants.
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A breast pump should be available for expressing milk and milk is expressed at least eight times in 24 hours Provision for milk banking in the hospital facility for the collection and storage of expressed breast milk.
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6. Giving newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated and educating mothers on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding unless other food/drink are medically indicated.
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No sterile water, glucose water or milk formula in the clinical wards.
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7. Practicing rooming-in to allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
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All babies are roomed-in and only pathologic babies are placed in a nursery (NICU).
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8. Encouraging breastfeeding on demand.
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Mothers are taught behavioral feeding cues for them to feed their infants on cue for 8 to 12 times each 24 hours.
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9. Giving no artificial teats or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants.
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No artificial nipples and pacifiers or any feeding paraphernalia in the wards.
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10. Fostering the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and referring mothers to them upon discharge from the hospital.
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Organized peer breastfeeding support groups supervised by a lactation consultant / staff nurse.
Documented regular monitoring and coaching activities with the roster of breastfeeding support groups recognized as peer counselors within their catchment area to further strengthen / sustain the 10th Step.
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Typical baby care protocols in hospitals are not always baby-friendly. For example, in some hospitals then a woman delivers a baby, the newborn is often taken to a central nursery. There, the baby is placed under a warmer to help stabilize his or her body temperature. The pediatricians and nurses perform assessments and administer any medications that might be needed before reuniting baby with mother.
Research, however, strongly demonstrates that immediate skin-to-skin contact after delivery and breastfeeding are the keys to a healthy start in the life of a newborn.
Based on this research, baby-friendly care differs from typical hospital procedures and includes:
Typical baby care protocols in hospitals are not always baby-friendly. For example, in some hospitals then a woman delivers a baby, the newborn is often taken to a central nursery. There, the baby is placed under a warmer to help stabilize his or her body temperature. The pediatricians and nurses perform assessments and administer any medications that might be needed before reuniting baby with mother.
Research, however, strongly demonstrates that immediate skin-to-skin contact after delivery and breastfeeding are the keys to a healthy start in the life of a newborn.
Based on this research, baby-friendly care differs from typical hospital procedures and includes:
Skin-to-Skin Contact
More than 40 years of research demonstrates the powerful benefits of skin-to-skin contact for newborns. Babies held skin-to-skin enjoy stable vital signs (breathing, heart rate, temperature, blood pressure and blood glucose levels). Babies cry less, sleep and feed better, and absorb the nutrients in and digest their food better. Mothers also benefit, helping women with pain management and milk production. Partners can enjoy skin-to-skin as a special way to bond with the baby, too.
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