Delta, CO (October 27, 2020) – The Delta Health (Delta Health) birthing center, Stork’s Landing, recently received funding from the Colorado Baby-Friendly Hospital Collaborative for re-designation fees and continued staff education.
As one of only four baby-friendly designated hospitals on the Western Slope of Colorado, Delta Health can continue putting mothers, babies and families first with these additional resources.
“We are honored to receive this state funding,” said Carol Swingle, RN, BSN, CLC and the Delta Health OB Director. “It’s a big deal to stay baby-friendly and this helped tremendously. We received 4,000 dollars to go towards re-designation fees as well as for staff education courses and overall baby-friendly costs. We also received 2,000 dollars for implementing and improving evidence-based breastfeeding support.”
The Colorado Baby-Friendly Hospital Collaborative helps improve breastfeeding rates and practices by helping maternity hospitals achieve and maintain the prestigious baby-friendly designation.
The designation means that a hospital provides the best maternity care for mothers and babies while also supporting breastfeeding. Some of the actions that hospitals do as part of the designation is to have a written breastfeeding policy, train all health care staff on the skills necessary to implement the policy, help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth, and more.
Delta Health has been baby-friendly designated since 2017. To be considered a baby-friendly birthing center, DMCH has implemented system-wide adoption of the 10 steps baby-friendly.
At Delta Health all of the physicians at Premier Women’s Healthcare of Delta, Delta Family Medicine and the West Elk Clinic in Hotchkiss have participated in the baby-friendly education/training.
“In addition to that, 90 percent of our staff at Stork’s Landing are certified lactation counselors,” said Swingle. “[This] means they’re trained in breastfeeding and breastfeeding problems. We also have two international board-certified lactation consultants.”
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (FBHI) is a global program that was started in 1991 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to recognize hospitals that offer an optimal level of care for mothers and babies. Part of the initiative is the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes.
To learn more about Stork’s Landing, and the free childbirth preparation infant CPR classes that happen on the first and second Tuesdays of the month from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., call 970.874.2225 or to make an appointment at one of Delta Health’s primary care clinics, visit deltahealthco.org.
