St. John’s Episcopal Hospital hosts a special
breastfeeding education event for new mothers
BY SAMANTHA WANDERER
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
(SJEH), which serves the diverse community
of Far Rockaway and Five
Towns in southern Queens County
and southwestern Nassau County, has
begun taking steps to become a designated
Baby-Friendly Hospital.
The hospital recently held a Celebration
of New Life Event, where
expecting mothers received education
about breastfeeding. To make
the learning more exciting, St. John’s
Episcopal Hospital included a Jeopardy
style game that gave attendees the
chance to win prizes at the event.
“We wanted to create a learning environment
that was also fun, and we
accomplished just that,” said Denise
Potts, MSN-ED, RNC, Director of Maternal
Child Health.
The event was a step towards the
hospital’s goal to be a part of the Baby-
Friendly Initiative-a global program
led by the World Health Organization
and UNICEF. The program is designed
to encourage practices that support
breastfeeding because of its benefits
to newborns.
Courtesy of St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
Breastfeeding can improve a child’s
survival and health, but it also can
prevent chronic conditions that occur
later in life like obesity, childhood leukaemias,
and high blood pressure, according
to UNICEF. To become a Baby-
Friendly hospital, education must be
provided on these benefits, and others.
Several ideas are highlighted in
the SJEH’s new education programs,
which begin when expecting mothers
attend their obstetric and gynecological
appointments, including: the hospital’s
belief in the importance of early
skin-to-skin contact, frequent feeding
on demand, effective positioning and
attachment, and exclusive breastfeeding
in the first six months.
This education is designed to give
expecting mothers the information they
need to decide for themselves if breastfeeding
is the best option for their child
and themselves. It also helps mothers
learn about other ways they can bond
with their newborns early on.
“We have reinvented our labor
and delivery procedures to ensure
that mothers can make an informed
decision about breastfeeding, and
are educated about the importance of
practices such as immediate skin-toskin
contact at birth to begin forming
a bond with their babies,” said Gwen
Pinckney, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, Chief
Nursing Officer.
SJEH said patients have comprehended
the information their providers
have told them at their regular
obstetric and gynecological appointments
so far. The hospital applies the
teach-back method, in which patients
teach the information back to their
doctor, to ensure expecting mothers
process the information they learn.
“We found the Celebration of New
Life event to be successful in that our
expecting mothers were engaged and
excited to learn,” Potts said.
For more information, visit
www.ehs.org
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