Bartlett Regional | HouseCalls | Early Spring 2017

If possible, you’ll spend your baby’s first hour after birth cuddled up together skin to skin. This helps regulate baby’s heart rate, body temperature and breathing. Your baby stays in your room day and night, as long as you’re both healthy. That’s the best way to bond from the start. EXPECTING? We’d love to show you around. Call 907-796-8424 to schedule a tour of our birth center. Since your baby will be close, you’ll be able to breastfeed as soon as you’re ready. And our trained staff will be there to help if you need it. Breastfeeding support Skin-to-skin time Home sweet home. If feeding problems come up after you go home, our staff can help too. Rooming in We’re a designated BABY-FRIENDLY HOSPITAL . That means we meet the highest standards for maternity care and infant feeding. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a global program launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). www.bartletthospital.org 11 by health authorities. Bartlett provides the support and resources to encourage mothers to breastfeed. The ultimate goal In 2007, CDC established the Maternity Practices in Infant and Nutrition Care (mPINC) benchmark survey to improve baby and newmother care. Since we began participating in the survey in 2009 with a score of 71, Bartlett Beginnings has steadily improved our benchmark scores each year. TO LEARN MORE about prenatal care, visit www.womenshealth.gov . slowly and don’t overdo it. Consider light exercises, such as walking or swimming, unless your provider says otherwise. More healthy hints Experts offer these additional tips on keeping you and your baby healthy: w w Do not smoke or use alcohol or illegal drugs during pregnancy. Ask your provider for help with quitting. w w Tell your provider about medications or supplements you are taking. w w Limit coffee and other caffeinated drinks to one or two cups a day. w w Ask your provider how much weight you should gain. For many women, 25 to 30 pounds is about right. And don’t try to lose weight during pregnancy. w w Be sure to get enough folic acid. To help prevent certain birth defects, pregnant women should get 400 to 800 micrograms of folic acid a day. Ask your provider about taking a multivitamin or prenatal vitamin. w w If there is a cat in your home, have someone else change the litter box. This can help prevent toxoplasmosis, a disease that can harm unborn babies. w w Ask your provider whether there are vaccinations you may need. “We did not necessarily set out to improve the mPINC benchmark scores but to improve our breastfeeding practices by implementing the standards of care outlined by the Baby-Friendly initiative.” White says. The ultimate goal is to improve the health of mothers and babies. Bartlett Beginnings was awarded the coveted Baby-Friendly designation in 2014. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a global initiative first launched in 1991. Guidelines include a written breastfeeding policy, staff education, helping moms learn how to breastfeed within the first hour after birth, giving infants no food or drink except breast milk, and having babies rooming with moms. Under the guidelines, the offer of free formula samples provided by companies is a thing of the past. Bartlett is part of an esteemed minority. Only 20 percent of births in the United States are in officially designated Baby-Friendly hospitals.