PeaceHealth Southwest Medical center receives prestigious baby-friendly designation

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The PeaceHealth Southwest Washington Medical Center recently achieved the prestigious international Baby-Friendly Designation after a review process conducted by Baby-Friendly USA. 

The distinguished honor demonstrates that PeaceHealth Southwest is adhering to high standards of care for breastfeeding mothers and their babies. The standards are built based on the “Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding,” a set of evidence-based practices recommended by the World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. 

“Our Family Birth Center has long been a recognized leader in the care of women and newborns,” Barbara James, director of women’s and children’s services at PeaceHealth Southwest, said in a news release. “This designation reinforces our commitment that every woman who delivers a baby at our facility is given the resources, information and ongoing support needed to help her and her baby get the best, healthiest start in life.”



According to the release, of women delivering at PeaceHealth Southwest, 97 percent of them initiate breastfeeding. This percentage exceeds the latest CDC Breastfeeding Report Card that indicated 92.4 percent of babies born in Washington in 2015 initiated breastfeeding. The release also mentioned the positive health effects of breastfeeding being that “breast milk is uniquely suited to the human infant’s nutritional needs and is a live substance with unparalleled immunological and anit-inflammatory properties that protect against a host of illnesses and diseases for both mothers and children.”

With the designation, PeaceHealth Southwest joins a list of 603 other Baby-Friendly hospitals and birth centers in the United States.