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WELLNESS NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS/ELMURST RECEIVES DESIGNATION AS “BABY-FRIENDLY” FACILITY Hospital efforts to provide high-level care to mothers and their newborns recognized by the World Health Organization and UNICEF Designation builds on the City’s and Health + Hospitals commitment to improving maternal health NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst today announced that it has received international recognition as a Designated Baby-Friendly birth facility. Awarded by Baby-Friendly USA, an initiative of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the designation recognizes hospitals that encourage and promote breastfeeding and mother-baby bonding. Based on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, this prestigious international award recognizes birth facilities that offer breastfeeding mothers the information, confidence, and skills needed to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies. NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst joins nine hospitals within the public health system that now have the Baby-Friendly designation. Improving maternal health has been a central focus of the de Blasio administration, and this effort builds on the efforts undertaken by NYC Health + Hospitals to ensure safe maternity care at all its hospitals. “NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst consistently provides high-quality care to mothers and their babies, and we are extremely pleased that the work of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers is being recognized by the World Health Organization and UNICEF through the Baby-Friendly initiative,” said Israel Rocha, Vice President at NYC Health + Hospitals and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst. “Obtaining Baby-Friendly designation is a rigorous process. Our staff and patients should be extremely proud of all the hard work that was placed into this effort over the past few years,” said Dr. Jennifer Pintiliano, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst’s Associate Director of Pediatrics. “This designation is an attestation to the exemplary level of care we provide to our patients in Maternal Child Health. The practices are evidence based, which will lead to improved outcomes for our mothers and babies.” In 2018, 2,327 babies were born at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst. The hospital’s new Mother-Baby unit features 15 private rooms where infants can room in, allowing for an early bonding opportunity between mother and child. Of the babies born in the unit last year, approximately 96 percent initiated breastfeeding immediately following delivery. To receive the designation, hospitals are required to meet or exceed patient care standards in a rigorous on-site evaluation by the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, including: �� offers mothers the information, confidence, and skills needed to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies; �� and baby after birth; ��- pital staff about the important benefits and management of breastfeeding; ��- er’s 24 hours a day during postpartum care; and �� support groups in the area. “Congratulations to everyone at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst on securing the prestigious designation of being a Baby-Friendly �� - dent Melinda Katz. “This recognition highlights the great work NYC Health + Hospitals/ Elmhurst has done to provide excellent care to mothers and their newborns.” “This designation shows the high standard of care for mothers and newborns at Elmhurst,” said New York State Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard N. Gottfried. “With ten public hospitals now on the ‘baby-friendly’ list, Health + Hospitals is building on its impressive commitment to maternal and child health.” “I could not be prouder of NYC Health and Hospital Elmhurst and applaud this wonderful achievement,” said New York State Assembly Member Catalina Cruz. “Our district and its residents deserve quality medical care, and NYC Health and Hospitals Elmhurst is here to deliver (literally!). This important designation from the World Health Organization and UNICEF as a “Baby-Friendly” birth facility proves what we have known all along- that NYC Health and Hospitals Elmhurst provides quality care to mothers and newborns. I applaud the hard-work, dedication, and excellent service provided by the Hospital’s doctors, nurses, and staff to our entire community.” “It is hardly surprising that Elmhurst Hospital has earned yet another accolade,” said New York State Assemblyman Michael DenDekker. “I appreciate how important it is that expectant mothers and newborns in our community receive top-tier care, and I am ecstatic that Elmhurst Hospital is up to the task to provide that care. I commend Elmhurst Hospital for attaining the status of Designated Baby-Friendly birth facility, and I hope that Elmhurst Hospital continues its tradition of providing stellar health services to its patients.” There are more than 20,000 designated Baby- Friendly hospitals and birth centers worldwide. Currently there are 561 active Baby- Friendly hospitals and birth centers in the United States. The “Baby-Friendly” re-designation is given after a rigorous on-site survey is completed. The award is maintained by continuing to practice the Ten Steps as demonstrated by quality processes. Further information about the U.S. Baby- Friendly Hospital Initiative may be obtained by visiting www.babyfriendlyusa.org. ### About NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst is a major provider of hospital and ambulatory care services in the borough of Queens. The 545- bed hospital is a Level 1 Trauma Center, an Emergency Heart Care Station, and a 911-Receiving Hospital. It is a premiere health care organization for key specialties, including surgery, cardiology, women’s health, pediatrics, rehabilitation medicine, renal services, and mental health services. Last year, the hospital’s robust primary and specialty care practices handled nearly 700,000 ambulatory care visits and its emergency medicine teams responded to more than 130,000 emergency room encounters. About NYC Health + Hospitals NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation, serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home �� supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook. com/NYCHealthandHospitals or Twitter at @NYCHealthSystem. How sleep loss can cause memory problems for seniors There’s new evidence that insomnia can contribute to memory loss and forgetfulness among the elderly. Poor sleep can leave people feeling groggy, disoriented, depressed, and not up for facing the day. And now there’s new evidence that insomnia can contribute to memory loss and forgetfulness among the elderly. A study — the first of its kind — unveiled a new link between lack of sleep and memory loss. Researchers at the University of California, Berkley found that during sleep important brain waves are produced that play key roles in storing memories. These waves transfer the memories from the hippocampus to the prefrontal cortex, a portion of the brain where long-term information is stored. Sleep loss can cause the memories to remain in the hippocampus and not reach the long-term storage area, found researchers. This can contribute to forgetfulness and difficulty remembering simple details, such as names. Seniors are frequently plagued with deteriorated sleeping patterns that lead to shallow sleep and more awakenings, says those at the University of California. This can contribute to the prevention of memories being saved by the brain each evening. This is not the first time sleep and brain health have been measured. A 2008 University of California, Los Angeles study discovered that people with sleep apnea showed tissue loss in brain regions that help store memories. WebMD says imaging and behavioral studies show the role sleep plays in learning and memory and that lack of sleep can impair a person’s ability to focus and learn efficiently. Combine this with the necessity of sleep to make those brain wave connections for memories to be stored, and the importance of deep sleep is apparent. Another study, published in the journal Brain, conducted by doctors at Washington University in St. Louis, linked poor sleep with early onset of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease. Although poor sleep does not cause Alzheimer’s, it may increase brain amyloid proteins believed to be intrinsic to the disease. When slow-wave deep sleep is disrupted, levels of amyloid can grow and clog the brain. This is corroborated by data published in the journal Neurology. Getting deep sleep is important for reducing these proteins. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recognizes the difficulties elderly people may have in regard to sleep. The quality of deep sleep among older adults is often 75 percent lower than it is in younger people. Doctors can be cognizant of how sleep impacts memory and the onset of dementias and discuss insomnia treatment options with their patients. TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM BT APR. 19-25, 2019 27 /NYCHealthandHospitals /www.nychealthandhospitals.org /NYCHealthandHospitals /NYCHealthandHospitals /www.babyfriendlyusa.org /www.babyfriendlyusa.org /www.nychealthandhospitals.org /TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM