HOUSTON METHODIST WEST NEWS
THE JOURNEY TO: Baby-Friendly Designation By Sarah Fleming
HOUSTON METHODIST WEST’S BIRTHING CENTER is working diligently to honor and celebrate May’s women’s health and innovation in nursing through the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative. The initiative was launched by the World Health Organization to recognize hospitals that provide optimum level of care within their Labor and Delivery units. The program specifically supports breastfeeding for all new mothers and their newborns. The Birthing Center is working toward Baby-Friendly Hospital recognition and designation. The road to designation entails many steps and adherence to several different guidelines. The institution must follow the guidelines, originating from the World Health Organization, listed below: • Breastfeeding Policy in house • Specific training for staff related to breastfeeding and parent teaching • Breastfeeding education to all new mothers about benefits • Initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth • Educate mothers on breastfeeding techniques as well as lactation maintenance such as express, handling, and storage of breast milk
• Give infants no other food or drink other than breast milk unless clinically indicated • Practice rooming in, allowing mother and baby to remain together for 24 hours a day • Encourage breastfeeding on demand • No pacifiers or artificial nipples • Educate mothers on breastfeeding support groups and refer on discharge
As of now, Houston Methodist West has set off on their journey and is making great strides toward designation. First, with the support of clinical staff and physicians, the Birthing Center changed its model of care from a traditional nursery nurse for the newborn and postpartum nurse for the mother to couplet care, or one nurse for mom and baby. Next, the unit implemented and encouraged skin-to-skin for the first hour after birth to create a stronger bond between mom and baby. This was a large deviation from current nursing process but the staff nurses were excited to get involved and modify their work flow in order to achieve skin-to-skin. The next step on the journey to Baby Friendly Designation was transitioning mom and baby at the bedside. One Baby-Friendly goal is to have every appropriate newborn stay with mom at all times during their hospital stay. The Birthing Center even implemented this into their work flow with C-Section moms and babies. The newborn now accompanies mom to recovery if appropriate. In order for all of these steps to be implemented and sustained, all nursing staff completed 20 hours of online training and a four-hour shadow of the lactation nurse in order to understand all facets of the new couplet care. Education classes hosted by lactation nurse are offered to new parents to educate about the importance of breastfeeding. Parents are educated and supported throughout their stay in the hospital beginning with an introduction to Baby Friendly initiatives prior to delivery with continued education after. The Birthing Center’s new initiatives to provide new, evidence-based patient care will positively impact outcomes in newborns and their mothers.
HOUSTON METHODIST WEST’S NURSE’S WEEK CELEBRATION By Sarah Fleming; Pictures provided by Coley Tatyrek
Foot massages, scrub shopping, Chick-fil-A breakfast, daily raffles, blessing of the hands and a fajita lunch are a few of the events Houston Methodist West held for Nurses Week. Each day and night was filled with a nurse-themed activity, such as a nurse’s cap decorating contest or an appreciation meal. Nurses Week could not have come at a better time this year as we celebrated the addition of more than 50 nurses from CHRISTUS St. Catherine to our Houston Methodist team. We are proud of the great nurses at Houston Methodist West and thank them for all their hard work and dedication. Keep up the great work!
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