Intermountain Health’s Garfield Memorial Hospital in Panguitch, Utah, recently received a five-star rating for being a breastfeeding friendly facility from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (UDHHS) by completing all ten steps of the Stepping Up for Utah Babies program.

The state health program recognizes Utah hospitals that have taken steps to promote, protect, educate, and encourage breastfeeding in their facilities. Earning a five-star rating typically takes years.

“Our mom and baby caregivers have been working hard to earn this breastfeeding friendly rating. This signifies our caregivers are both competent and comfortable providing evidence-based education and resources to help families be successful in breastfeeding their infants,” said Tanielle Ramsay, RN, the nurse who led the efforts to earn the designation.

The ten steps of the Stepping Up for Utah Babies program are evidence-based maternity care practices that demonstrate optimal support of breastfeeding, as well as improved care experiences and outcomes for non-breastfeeding moms and families.

They include hospital practices such as: encouraging moms to hold their new baby skin-to-skin right after delivery; allowing moms and babies to remain together 24 hours a day in the hospital; training staff to support all new moms’ feeding choices; encouraging breastfeeding on demand; reducing formula supplementation unless medically indicated; and not using pacifiers for breastfeeding infants.

“Our experience has taught us, when moms and newborns engage in early skin-to-skin contact during the “golden” first hour after birth, it greatly increases a mother’s success with breastfeeding. Our staff is truly dedicated to helping new moms and mothers receive the most up-to-date education and support possible for confident, successful feeding whether they choose to bottle feed or breastfeed,” said Susan Harris, the hospital’s nurse manager.

The state health program website cites research that shows breast milk is the best food for infants and that breastfeeding is associated with decreased risk for infant morbidity and mortality. It’s also been shown that breastfeeding moms have lower incidences of breast and ovarian cancer, Type 2 diabetes and postpartum depression.

The state program is patterned after the international Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative started by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund in the 1990s .

To find out more about Intermountain’s virtual breastfeeding course, click here. For a complete list of hospitals working toward the five-star, breastfeeding-friendly rating, visit: https://mihp.utah.gov/stepping-up-for-utah-babies

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in seven states and additional operations across the western U.S., www.intermountainhealth.org is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, 385 clinics, medical groups with some 3,900 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called SelectHealth with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information or updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.