Two south Okanagan health care teams have received international recognition for their care and support of new parents and their babies.
Interior Health shared an announcement on Friday that Penticton Regional Hospital (PRH) and Penticton Health Centre (PHC) have been awarded the national and global designation for the Baby-Friendly Initiative (BFI), a World Health Organization and UNICEF program that guides optimal care and best breastfeeding and chestfeeding practices.
“This designation recognizes the high standard of care teams in Penticton provide to babies and new parents, giving them the healthiest start on their new journey together,” said Dr. Shallen Letwin, vice-president of clinical operations in the press release.
Penticton Regional Hospital was chosen alongside 26 sites in Canada to pilot a national BFI quality improvement project in 2019.
The pilot project was guided by Breastfeeding Committee for Canada with funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
“Since the PHC is a close partner in care, a community-based collaborative model was used, allowing the two facilities to work on the project together,” read the Interior Health press release.
“This work was also supported by the Systems Change Project, with funding from the Vancouver Foundation. Four years later, PRH and PHC join only three other facilities in the province and 28 across Canada with the official designation.”
Now four years later, the hospital and health centre join only three other facilities in the province and 28 across Canada with the official designation.
The BFI supports 10 steps to successful breastfeeding, with one of the key practices being immediate and continuous skin-to-skin contact between parent and baby.
Interior Health added that the contact benefits all families, no matter how they plan to feed their baby.
“The goal of the BFI is to make breastfeeding and chestfeeding easier for families by helping them get off to the best start possible, and supporting them for as long as they need,” said Penticton’s BFI lead Meggie Ross in the press release.
“With BFI’s 10 steps to successful breastfeeding policies in place at our facilities, we know the family’s experience improves, and breastfeeding rates increase.”
Local mom Erin Robataille spoke at the celebration ceremony about her experience with the BFI program.
Her youngest is now three years old and her oldest is almost six, and Robataille needed support through both children for different reasons for breastfeeding.
“Once my time with midwives were over I needed to reach out to Tiffany who I knew was a lactation consultant and she was able to come and support me in my home to continue to breast feed my kids which was important to me,” said Robataille.
“I think this support is going to make a difference because as a mom you just want the best for your kids. So I think these kinds of opportunities to have resources all around you is really is an unbelievable opportunity and even for myself be able to talk to other people in the community who I know who have had children who don’t know what to do, or how to go about things or maybe they need to go a different route in their plan so being able to guide them to where they can go to access all the resources is amazing.”
Robataille went on to say that she also works at the Penticton Regional Hospital and has been able to guide other moms to BFI resources.
“I am very excited for this — I knew this was coming and I have had multiple moms in the waiting room say, ‘Hey, can I go nurse somewhere in private?’ And I knew exactly where they could go,” said Robataille.
“It’s been a huge success for me to be a part of this.”
The BFI also supports each family’s choice and gives them the information and support they need to decide how to feed their baby that’s best for their situation.
As part of the project, Penticton Hospital has introduced pasteurized donor human milk from the BC Women’s Provincial Milk Bank as an option for families.
“The Baby-Friendly Initiative is an invaluable global initiative that supports all families,” said Lea Geiger, provincial clinical coordinator for maternal infant health at Perinatal Services BC in the press release.
“The BFI practice standards enhance the quality of care provided to all parents and their babies, empowering them with the knowledge and resources they need to give their babies the best possible start in life. By placing families at the centre of care, these standards promote a holistic approach that leads to greater happiness and healthier outcomes for both parents and babies.”
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