Resources for Professionals
The New Mexico Baby-Friendly™ Hospital Project strives to support healthcare providers in the state of New Mexico by:
1) Developing curricula for medical and nursing schools
2) Providing continuing education for providers on how to meet the Baby-Friendly USA and the Joint Commission Perinatal Core Measure on exclusive breastfeeding requirements
3) Creating networking opportunities within and across disciplines
Becoming Baby-Friendly™ involves giving patients the information, confidence, and skills necessary to successfully initiate and continue nursing their babies. This effort is based on a 1991 World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) set of criteria established to offer an optimal level of care for infant feeding and mother/baby bonding. Birthing facilities who become Baby-Friendly™ successfully implement the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding [1] and comply with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes [2].
[1] The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, Protecting, Promoting and Supporting Breast-feeding: The Special Role of Maternity Services. Geneva: WHO, 1989.
[2] International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. Geneva: WHO, 1981.
For Hospital Administrators
I'm a Hospital Administrator - I Help New Mexico Breastfeed
Hospital administrators can help ensure that every mother and child have the option of successful breastfeeding, starting with making their hospital Baby-Friendly™. The Baby-Friendly™ Hospital Initiative, created by WHO and UNICEF, outlines "10 steps to successful breastfeeding." Hospitals or birth centers that show compliance with the 10 steps and don't accept free formula samples can become designated as Baby-Friendly™.
Is your hospital Baby-Friendly™?
· Have a written breastfeeding policy
· Train staff to implement the policy
· Tell all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding
· Help mothers breastfeed within one hour of birth
· Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain their milk supply, even if they are separated from their infants
· Only give infants breastmilk unless medically necessary
· Practice "rooming in" (i.e., allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day)
· Encourage breastfeeding whenever the baby wants it
· Don't give pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants
· Help create breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them when they leave the clinic or hospital
Funding Resources for Hospitals
1. Hospital Scholarships: to cover part of the Baby-Friendly fees and other costs related to progress along the Baby-Friendly Pathway.
2. Hospital Consultants: to assist with assessment, training, and mentoring/coaching related to progress along the Baby-Friendly Pathway.
Contact the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force for support on making your hospital Baby-Friendly™.
Key Resources
Baby Friendly Appropriation Request Form
Baby Friendly Consultant Appropriation Guidelines
Baby Friendly Hospital Appropriation Guidelines
For Lactation Professionals
The New Mexico Baby-Friendly Hospital Project strives to support all hospitals and birthing centers in the state of New Mexico in meeting the Baby-Friendly USA requirements to be designated as “Baby-Friendly.. Becoming a Baby-Friendly™ Hospital involves giving parents information, confidence, and skills necessary to successfully initiate and continue nursing their babies.
The NM Breastfeeding Task Force BFHP offers scholarships and training and networking opportunities for lactation professionals who are invested in supporting their local hospitals and birthing centers in becoming Baby-Friendly.
Resources for Moms & Families
o state law info
o cross-link to workplace info and Chapter list/pages
o link to ShareNM for lactation support guide
o link to ACLU for legal assistance
o any guides to what's covered by insurance - pumps, lactation visits, etc, guides for childcare and general breastmilk handling, etc.)
You can return to school or work and breastfeed!
It's helpful to plan ahead.
Talk to your employer/teacher/professor (ideally while pregnant) about your desire to breastfeed for both you and your baby's health then discuss ways to accommodate your needs to pump at work or school.
Do you need support to talk with your employer/school about pumping at work?
Contact our Breastfeeding Workplace program or 505-629-9877
We need your help! Students deserve a state law to protect their rights to flexible break time and a clean, private space to pump on campus. Do you want to help us advocate?