I'm pretty tired today. I spent most of yesterday going back and forth to the hospital. One of the girls from my church was having a baby and since I am friends with her parents I wanted to be there for her. I wasn't able to care for her since it was my day off but I went to just be supportive and hang out with the family. This is actually one of the fun parts of my job - to just "be" there and do the little things like take pictures and help arrange rooms,etc. So I visited in the waiting room with the soon to be grandparents,hand picked a good nurse to give patient care, then went back later in the evening for the delivery. I was able to take care of the baby and hopefully give the parents a good experience. So - welcome baby Matthew! 
Then I had to be back this morning for a BFHI (Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative) meeting...we at St. Joseph are trying to go "baby friendly" (see http://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/) We have been working on this committee for over two years and have our letter of intent sent in and now we are working on education our staff. Our goal is to support breast feeding as the best way to care for infants. We have worked hard to make changes but it seems like we still have so far to go...below are the guidelines that we work off of.
The Ten Steps To Successful BreastfeedingThe BFHI promotes, protects, and supports breastfeeding through The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding for Hospitals, as outlined by UNICEF/WHO. The steps for the United States are:
1 -
Maintain a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
2 -
Train all health care staff in 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 breastmilk, unless medically indicated.
7 -
Practice “rooming in”-- allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
8 -
Encourage unrestricted breastfeeding.
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 clinic.
Aren't babies just the cutest things??
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