Woman’s Hospital of Texas Earns Baby-Friendly Designation

HOUSTON – The Woman’s Hospital of Texas has earned the distinction of being a Baby-Friendly-designated birth facility, a designation given by Baby-Friendly USA based in Albany, N.Y. The Woman’s Hospital is the first Houston hospital and the largest in the country to receive the international recognition. This makes it the perfect place to welcome a new life into the world. Even the wider city of Houston is notable for its child-friendliness. There are many things to do in Houston for children which makes it perfect for families.

Baby-Friendly USA implemented the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, a program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that acknowledges hospitals that offer an optimal level of care for breastfeeding mothers and babies. The designation is given after the hospital goes through a rigorous, on-site survey. More than 200 hospitals in the U.S. have achieved this status.

The Baby-Friendly designation is awarded based on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, an outline of procedures and rules that hospitals need to follow in order to maintain their designation. Those steps include:

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

The Woman’s Hospital of Texas opened in 1976 and recently added the Pediatric Center to its campus. The hospital has 397 licensed beds, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and more than 650 doctors.
“We chose to pursue Baby-Friendly Designation in order to better support mother and baby bonding and infant feeding,” said Linda Russell, CEO of The Woman’s Hospital of Texas, in a statement. “Achieving Baby-Friendly Designation has been a goal of our physicians, nursing staff and administration. Expectant mothers can be assured that our staff will provide the professional support needed to assist them throughout the birthing process, provide a positive birthing experience and enable them to breastfeed successfully.”