East Campus designated Texas Ten Step Program facility
Jun 25, 2019
Promoting the benefits for new moms to breastfeed
EL PASO,TX—The Hospitals of Providence East Campus achieves yet another milestone by earning the Texas Ten Step Program facility designation from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
Texas Ten Step hospitals elevate the standard of care for mothers and babies by implementing policies to improve maternity care practices in birthing centers. The education of hospital employees and accessibility to resources for breastfeeding mothers following discharge from the hospital are key objectives. The program works to advance more beneficial and favorable health outcomes for women and their infant children.
Those Ten Steps are based on expert research in infant health and wellbeing, and require that hospitals:
1. Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health-care staff.
2. Train all health care employees in the skills necessary to implement this policy.
3. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
4. Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within an hour of birth. Place babies in skin-to-skin contact with their mothers immediately following birth for at least an hour. Encourage mothers to recognize when their babies are ready to breastfeed and offer help if needed.
5. Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain breastfeeding as the source of nutrition, even if they should be separated from their infants.
6. Solely provide infants with breastmilk for nutrition unless medically indicated.
7. Practice rooming-in by allowing mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day while in the hospital.
8. Encourage breastfeeding on demand. Teach mothers cue-based feeding regardless of feeding method.
9. Eliminate use of artificial nipples or pacifiers for breastfeeding infants.
10. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from hospital or clinic.
“The Mother-Baby Team at East Campus is committed to putting the health and well-being of our newest babies at the forefront of our care and are proud to support the overwhelming majority of women that are choosing to breastfeed,” said Monica Vargas-Mahar, CEO for The Hospitals of Providence East Campus. “This designation is a remarkable achievement for our hospital, and we will continue to support new moms in raising happy, healthy babies.”
East Campus joins a growing number of Texas hospitals and birth centers that are helping create a culture of breastfeeding support for new mothers and families. The Hospitals of Providence Memorial Campus is also recognized as a Texas Ten Step Facility.
“This is another important step in our effort to bring breastfeeding awareness to our community,” said Kelly Moreno, Director of Nursing for Mother-Baby Unit for The Hospitals of Providence East Campus. “It is important to our team that we are providing our mothers with the tools and encouragement they need to breastfeed their new babies.”
In addition to becoming a Texas Ten Step facility, East Campus was recently designated as an Advanced Level III Trauma Center by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
EL PASO,TX—The Hospitals of Providence East Campus achieves yet another milestone by earning the Texas Ten Step Program facility designation from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
Texas Ten Step hospitals elevate the standard of care for mothers and babies by implementing policies to improve maternity care practices in birthing centers. The education of hospital employees and accessibility to resources for breastfeeding mothers following discharge from the hospital are key objectives. The program works to advance more beneficial and favorable health outcomes for women and their infant children.
Those Ten Steps are based on expert research in infant health and wellbeing, and require that hospitals:
1. Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health-care staff.
2. Train all health care employees in the skills necessary to implement this policy.
3. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
4. Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within an hour of birth. Place babies in skin-to-skin contact with their mothers immediately following birth for at least an hour. Encourage mothers to recognize when their babies are ready to breastfeed and offer help if needed.
5. Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain breastfeeding as the source of nutrition, even if they should be separated from their infants.
6. Solely provide infants with breastmilk for nutrition unless medically indicated.
7. Practice rooming-in by allowing mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day while in the hospital.
8. Encourage breastfeeding on demand. Teach mothers cue-based feeding regardless of feeding method.
9. Eliminate use of artificial nipples or pacifiers for breastfeeding infants.
10. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from hospital or clinic.
“The Mother-Baby Team at East Campus is committed to putting the health and well-being of our newest babies at the forefront of our care and are proud to support the overwhelming majority of women that are choosing to breastfeed,” said Monica Vargas-Mahar, CEO for The Hospitals of Providence East Campus. “This designation is a remarkable achievement for our hospital, and we will continue to support new moms in raising happy, healthy babies.”
East Campus joins a growing number of Texas hospitals and birth centers that are helping create a culture of breastfeeding support for new mothers and families. The Hospitals of Providence Memorial Campus is also recognized as a Texas Ten Step Facility.
“This is another important step in our effort to bring breastfeeding awareness to our community,” said Kelly Moreno, Director of Nursing for Mother-Baby Unit for The Hospitals of Providence East Campus. “It is important to our team that we are providing our mothers with the tools and encouragement they need to breastfeed their new babies.”
In addition to becoming a Texas Ten Step facility, East Campus was recently designated as an Advanced Level III Trauma Center by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
