Breastfeeding - Texas Ten Step

Medical Center Hospital has taken a giant step towards improving the health of newborns and infants by earning the Texas Ten Step Hospital designation from the Texas Department of Health and the Texas Hospitals Association.

The Texas Ten Step Program encourages breastfeeding as the preferred method of feeding newborns and infants. MCH joins a growing number of Texas Hospitals now teaching new mothers that breastfeeding is the best nutritional choice to improve their baby's health.

Through the use of 10 goals or "steps", the program aims to help hospitals support breastfeeding resources for the mother after she is discharged from the hospital; and encourage hospitals to reach the Texas Breastfeeding Initiative's goal of having 75 percent of their mothers breastfeeding before they go home from the hospital with their newborn.

Texas Ten Step hospital maternity staff receive breastfeeding training within the first six months of employment and receive annual updates. This training includes the advantages of breastfeeding, anatomy and physiology of breastfeeding, how to solve common breastfeeding problems, and the impact of introducing formula and pacifiers before breastfeeding is established. Training also includes supervised clinical experience, a system of referral to breastfeeding specialists after hospital discharge, and a list of community resources.

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