Emerson Hospital was recently awarded the designation of “Baby-Friendly” from Baby-Friendly USA. The designation is a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund to recognize hospitals offering an optimal level of care for infant feeding and mother/baby bonding.
Just 403 hospitals and birth centers in the U.S. have received the Baby-Friendly honor, representing less than 20% of all births in the country. Moreover, just 12% of U.S. maternity hospitals and birthing centers have the Baby-Friendly designation.
“As a leading community hospital, Emerson’s care teams respect the choices of all of our patients,” said Christine Schuster, President and CEO of Emerson Hospital. “We are honored to receive the Baby-Friendly designation that recognizes the hard work our maternity staff does to provide exceptional education and support to all of our new mothers.”
Emerson received the Baby-Friendly designation after a rigorous on-site survey based on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. Becoming a Baby-Friendly facility is a comprehensive, detailed and thorough journey toward excellence in providing evidence-based, maternity care with the goal of achieving optimal infant feeding outcomes and mother/baby bonding. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative supports hospitals in giving all mothers the information, confidence, and skills necessary to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies or feeding formula safely, and gives special recognition to hospitals that have done so.
“I am proud of our maternity team and their continual focus on providing excellent care to all mothers and babies,” said Joanna Vallie, MSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, Director of Obstetrics, Emerson Hospital. “When women choose to deliver their baby at Emerson, they receive the highest quality care from the time they come to the hospital through to when they go home with their newborn. Having the Baby-Friendly designation underscores our focus on educating and supporting new mothers so they and their baby begin a healthy, happy life together.”
Emerson's Baby-Friendly initiative was supported by a major grant from the Charles S. and Millicent P. Brown Family Foundation of Williamsburg, VA. To learn more about the Baby-Friendly program, please visit www.babyfriendlyusa.org/. For information about giving birth at Emerson Hospital, please visit www.emersonhospital.org/birthingcenter.
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Emerson Hospital is a multi-site health system headquartered in Concord, Mass., with additional facilities in Sudbury, Groton and
Westford. The 179-bed hospital provides advanced medical services to more than 300,000 individuals in 25 towns. To learn more, visit www.emersonhospital.org.
