St George Hospital has been recognised as a Baby Friendly Hospital, and is
the second hospital in Sydney, after the Royal Hospital for Women (RHW), to
receive such recognition.
The hospital is one of only five Baby Friendly accredited hospitals in New South
Wales – after RHW, Broken Hill, Queanbeyan and John Hunter Hospitals.
Being accredited as a ‘Baby Friendly Hospital’ is not as easy as it sounds. The
World Health Organisation and UNICEF have formulated a stringent criteria: “The
Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding” as the basis for achieving this status.
St George Hospital Lactation Consultant Dianne Mills said that adhering to the
criteria ensures that patients have the support of highly skilled staff who have
the philosophy of keeping mothers and babies together and who support them to
breastfeed.
Ms Mills said that to achieve this accreditation the hospital had met the
highest standards of evidence based practice and staff education.
“All women are encouraged to have ‘skin to skin’ contact with their newborn baby
within the first half hour following birth, and mothers and babies also continue
to enjoy close contact by remaining together while they are in hospital,” Ms
Mills said.
“These factors have been shown to facilitate successful breastfeeding.”
Ms Mills said for mothers having a planned caesarean birth, the Hospital aimed
to have a midwife assist the mother to feed her newborn while she is still in
the recovery unit.
“Breastfeeding may not always come naturally – therefore supporting new mothers
to breastfeed is very important,” Ms Mills said. “Our staff are available to
help new mothers to learn this healthy and nurturing skill.”
Ms Mills said that more than 85 per cent of mothers were still breastfeeding
when discharged from St George Hospital.
“After discharge women, who are on our Midwifery Support Program, are provided
with continued breastfeeding assistance by midwives who visit them in their home
and then when they attend an Early Childhood Centre,” Ms Mills said.
“Our aim is to give new mothers consistent advice and support during their
hospital stay and in the immediate newborn period, to enable them to achieve the
goals they have for feeding and caring for their new baby.”
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