I’ve been a devoted admirer of Dr. Nils Bergman’s work for years. To celebrate Kangaroo Care Day, I interviewed him. As you know, there are literally hundreds of studies and other resources that show the efficacy of kangaroo mother care (KMC), but Dr. Bergman expanded on KMC and discussed “zero Read more…
I often hear that one of the big obstacles to “going Baby-Friendly” is getting the boss to say yes! I’m not surprised. The truth is, few – if any of us – have had good information on how to get the boss to say YES to any proposed change in Read more…
I often hear that one of the big obstacles to “going Baby-Friendly” is getting the boss to agree to a policy proposal! I’m not surprised. The truth is, few – if any of us – have had good information on how to get the boss to say YES to any Read more…
I often hear that one of the big obstacles to “going Baby-Friendly” is getting the boss to agree! This doesn’t surprise me. The truth is few, if any of us, have good information on how to get the boss to say YES to any proposed change in clinical practice. But Read more…
Everyone thinks they understand Step One of the Ten Steps, which reads “Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.” Simple writing an air-tight breastfeeding policy won’t do you much good unless you can effectively communicate it. Baby-Friendly committee members know they must write the policy. But they often overlook Read more…
I’ve warned against writing long-winded, rambling policies, and I’ve tackled the “bare bones” of what to include in your policy statement. But what is the often-included “fat” that needs to be trimmed? What do you need to leave out of your breastfeeding policy? Here are some suggestions about what to Read more…
“We’re planning to submit our hospital’s breastfeeding policy to Baby-Friendly USA,” I often hear. “If they don’t like it, they’ll help us fix it, right?” Although I used to be the president of Baby-Friendly USA’s Board of Directors, I am no longer affiliated with the organization, so I don’t have Read more…
At Breastfeeding Outlook, we get many calls from hospital staff members asking for help with their hospital breastfeeding policy. How many hospital breastfeeding policies have I written single-handedly, helped others to write, reviewed and critiqued since the early 1980s? I have no idea. It’s a lot. But if you haven’t seen Read more…
The recently-released “clarification” on PC-05a, the controversial performance measure of The Joint Commission (TJC)’s Perinatal Care data element related to “exclusive breast milk feeding” during the hospital stay, has completely puzzled me. I have read the statement several times, and I find no clarification in this statement whatsoever. To the Read more…
The ancient peoples quickly found that one does not pour new wine into old wineskins. If they did, the wine would ferment and burst the skins. (Presumably, if they did not know, the consequences would become abundantly apparent!) Learning from experience, they used new wineskins for new wine. They learned from the Read more…