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Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative

The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) to encourage and recognize hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of care for lactation.
The BFHI assists hospitals in giving breastfeeding mothers the information, confidence, and skills needed to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies and gives special recognition to hospitals that have done so.

The 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:

  • Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
  • Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
  • Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
  • Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
  • Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
  • Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.
  • Practice “rooming in”– allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
  • Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
  • Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
  • Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic

Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center and St. Rose Dominican Hospital – Siena Campus have earned the Baby Friendly Designation in Nevada. Thank you for supporting breastfeeding at your health care establishments!

Get Your Designation

Breastfeeding Success Training

The Nevada Department of Health and Human Service’s Breastfeeding Support Program is pleased to offer your maternity center a training opportunity to improve infant feeding practices and policies. Based on the feedback received from your healthcare cent’s survey response, we are providing a 4-hour, customized training focused on the following 5 steps:

  1. Initiate breastfeeding within the first hour after birth.
  2. Promote 24-hour rooming-in, encouraging the family to recognize and respond to infant’s hunger cues.
  3. Avoid giving infants fluids or solids other than breast milk unless medically necessary.
  4. Avoid using a pacifier or artificial nipple with healthy term infants during the hospital stay.
  5. Give mothers a list of resources to call for help with breastfeeding after discharge, and review this list with them.

These steps have been shown to significantly increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates.  In addition, incorporating these practices into your standard of care will assist you in meeting the Joint Commission’s Perinatal Care Core Quality Measure of exclusive breastmilk feedings.  Most importantly, incorporating these evidence-based, best practice steps will improve the standard quality of care your hospital provides to mothers and infants in your community.

If your hospital wishes to participate, we ask that Administration mandate attendance at this customized training for all post-partum and labor and delivery nurses.  Although the training itself will be free of cost, we ask that nurses be paid for their attendance in accordance with their typical salary.  The training will be offered at several times to ensure all required staff has the opportunity to attend.  Physicians are strongly encouraged to attend as they are an integral part of the care continuum*.

For more information, or to schedule a meeting with a trainer to discuss this opportunity further, please contact us.

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Congratulations to these maternity centers for taking steps to promote, protect and support breastfeeding in their organization!

Baby Steps to Breastfeeding Success Training Recipients

  • Banner Churchill (Fallon)
  • Spring Valley Hospital (Las Vegas)
  • Centennial Hills Hospital (Las Vegas)
  • Summerlin Hospital (Las Vegas)
  • University Medical Center (Las Vegas)
  • Sunrise Hospital (Las Vegas)
  • Henderson Hospital (Henderson)
  • Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital (Elko)
  • Humboldt General Hospital (Winnemucca)

Helpful Websites

We have compiled a list of wonderful websites for you to use as additional resources in your goal to achieve your breastfeeding-friendly designation.

View Helpful Websites