Baby-Friendly Hospitals in the Bay Area
Deciding where you would like to deliver your baby is usually an important decision for families. Fortunately, there are many high-quality medical establishments in the Bay Area and throughout California. Despite the many excellent choices at our fingertips, not all hospitals in the Bay Area qualify as “baby-friendly.” In this blog, we discuss what makes a hospital baby-friendly and provide you with a complete list of all the baby-friendly hospitals in the Bay Area!
What is a baby-friendly hospital?
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was launched in 1991 by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund. This initiative encourages hospitals to provide new moms with the information, confidence, and support needed to start and maintain a successful breastfeeding relationship. In order to remain a baby-friendly hospital, each hospital needs to follow the ten guidelines listed below.
According to the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, these ten steps are as follows:
- Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
- Train all health care staff in the skills necessary to implement this policy.
- Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
- Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
- Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
- Give infants no food or drink other than breast-milk, unless medically indicated.
- Practice rooming in – allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
- Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
- Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
- Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or birth center.
What are the benefits of choosing a baby-friendly hospital?
When you choose a baby-friendly hospital, the goal is that you can rest assured knowing that each member of your hospital care team has been trained in high-quality postpartum care. Baby-friendly hospitals are monitored by the accrediting agency Baby Friendly USA Inc (AKA BFUSA) to retain their designation, which ensures that care standards are met and maintained. Baby-friendly hospitals strive to provide new families all the tools and knowledge to support a breastfeeding relationship. Breastfeeding is encouraged under the baby-friendly model, but each family is supported and encouraged to make the best choice for them! For more information about the BFUSA Hospital Initiative, visit their website.
Baby-friendly hospitals in the Bay Area
We are fortunate to have a large list of baby-friendly hospitals to choose from in the Bay Area. Each Hospital listed below currently carries a “baby-friendly” designation:
- Watsonville Community Hospital, Watsonville, CA
- Washington Hospital Healthcare System, Fremont, CA
- Sutter Maternity and Surgery Center, Santa Cruz, CA
- Northbay Medical Center, Fairfield, CA
- John Muir Health, Walnut Creek, CA
- El Camino Hospital, Los Gatos, CA
- Dignity Health Dominican Hospital, Santa Cruz, CA
- Alameda Health System, Highland Hospital, Oakland, CA
- Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, CA
- Mills-Peninsula Medical Center, Burlghame, CA
- Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, CA
- Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, Martinez, CA
*For baby-friendly hospitals beyond the Bay Area visit BFUSA’s National Directory.
The right choice for you
When choosing a hospital for your delivery, there are many factors to consider, some factors may be the distance from your home, insurance coverage, personal recommendations, and your connection with providers and care teams. A baby-friendly designation can provide you with invaluable peace of mind that the postpartum care provided by your hospital will be high-quality. Baby-friendly hospitals are determined to provide the necessary support to all families who have determined that breastfeeding is the best option for them. While exploring different options for your upcoming birth, be sure to ask each hospital you consider about their postpartum care practices. This will help to ensure that these practices align with your values. Ultimately this choice is personal to you, and we hope this blog has provided information that may empower you to make the right choice for your family!
Thank you for reading this week’s blog, “Baby-Friendly Hospitals in the Bay Area!” For more helpful tips and tricks on all things pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and parenthood, tune into our other weekly blogs.
