Milford Regional Celebrates Kick-off for Baby-Friendly Initiative
The maternity department at Milford Regional Medical Center celebrated the kick-off of their Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative on Wednesday, January 21, with a special presentation by Dr. Barbara L. Philipp, medical director of The Birth Place at Boston Medical Center and a leader in breastfeeding medicine, who spoke about the significance of becoming designated as a Baby-Friendly Hospital.
The Baby-Friendly Initiative is a global program sponsored by the World Health organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to encourage and recognize hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of care for infant feeding. This is accomplished by completing ten rigorous steps to successful breastfeeding that, according to maternity nurse manager Rose Galimi, can take anywhere from three to five years to achieve.
Milford Regional's Baby-Friendly team includes nurses, lactation consultants, obstetricians and pediatricians who are working closely to implement Baby- Friendly practices at the Medical Center. Always one step ahead of the curve, Galimi says the maternity department has already made some headway on their journey to achieving Baby-Friendly designation. Currently, the maternity department offers many of the Baby-Friendly practices such as skin-to skin mother-baby bonding, rooming-in, and using pacifiers only for medical procedures. These practices are beneficial to all babies and moms and medical studies have shown they help improve breastfeeding success. The maternity department also supports new mothers after they go home by offering a drop-in mother’s group facilitated by a lactation consultant, as well as private one-to-one lactation clinics to address more complex issues.
For more information on Milford Regional Medical Center's maternity department, go to the Medical Center's website at milfordregional.org; click on Care and Treatment and then Maternity.
Milford Regional’s (MRMC) maternity department celebrates the kick-off of the Baby-Friendly Initiative. (Pictured left to right): Rose Galimi, nurse manager, MRMC maternity & pediatrics; Laura Fantini, MRMC Baby Friendly co-chair, lactation consultant; Nancy Tomaso, VP, MRMC Patient Care Services; Julie Naya, MRMC Baby Friendly co-chair, lactation consultant; Dr. Barbara Philipp, medical director, The Birth Place, Boston Medical Center; and Dr. Jeanne McCoy, medical director, MRMC inpatient pediatrics.
