Family-Centered Care focuses on the needs of the mother, infant, and families. It is a partnership that honors the strengths, culture, traditions, and expertise that everyone brings to the relationship.
Launched worldwide in 1992, the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a joint project of WHO (World Health Organization) and UNICEF.
The goal of the initiative is to recognize hospitals and maternity centers that show their commitment to providing a positive environment for breastfeeding mother by fulfilling rigorous standards.
Whittier Hospital Medical Center is working towards achieving this prestigious designation.
Rooming-in means the newborn baby stays with the mother in the mother's room throughout the hospital stay unless medically contraindicated.
Whittier Hospital Medical Center promotes the standards of care that are family-centered. We practice the Couplet Care/Rooming-In model.
Babies who are delivered vaginally will be kept with their mothers up to two hours in Labor & Delivery.
The infant will be immediately placed skin-to-skin and the mother encouraged to breastfeed. Mom and baby will be taken to post-partum, unless medically contraindicated.
Babies delivered by cesarean section will be shown to their mother, placed skin-to-skin for a short period of time before moving the mother to the Recovery Room.
The baby will be transported by the nurse to the Nursery and kept there until the mother is fully recovered. The father or significant other is also encouraged to provide skin-to-skin contact with the infant.
Rooming-In will start when the mother is fully recovered and transferred to the Postpartum room and the infant is stable.
The goal is to reunite mother and infant as soon as the mother is medically stable and has returned to her room.
Cesarean sections may be performed in the operating room suite on Labor and Delivery, or in the main operating room suite in Perioperative Services.
If mother and infant are separated for medical reasons, such as Phototherapy, mother or father can provide skin-to-skin contact. The mother may breastfeed in the Nursery if medically stable.
Maternal/infant skin-to-skin contact will be started as soon as they are reunited and documented in the medical record.
Mothers will be taught to use a breast pump and hand expression within 6 hours of separation from her baby. The colostrum, or breast milk, obtained by expression will be given to the baby unless contraindicated.
Mothers will be encouraged to begin pumping as soon as it is medically feasible and will be taught to pump at least 8 times in 24 hours and document on a pumping log.
Education and printed information regarding handling and storage of breast milk will be provided.
If the infant requires a higher level of care, the infant will be transferred to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at another facility. The father or significant other may bring the stored breastmilk to the infant until the mother is discharged.
Evidence-based research has shown that breast milk provides the best nutrition for infant feeding and is also beneficial for mom. This is the standard of care at Whittier Hospital Medical Center.
For more information, please call 562.945.3561 ext. 8450, 1773, 1774.