8
QUEENS WEEKLY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019
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.
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-to-skin 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.
Courtesy of St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
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