Vanderbilt University is participating in a new statewide project designed to improve the health of infants and mothers in Tennessee by increasing exclusive breast-feeding in hospitals and delivery centers.

The Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care (TIPQC) recently started the project at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center with 16 hospital teams from across the state.

Hospitals and centers in Tennessee who wish to participate in the project have until September 2012 to apply. Institutions that take part in the project will track breast feeding rates and compare them to baseline data to measure success.

Anna Morad, M.D., co-director of the Newborn Nursery and assistant professor of Pediatrics, explained:

“By removing hospital barriers and providing better breast-feeding education, we can help more moms meet their breast-feeding goals. We will track our breast-feeding rates monthly and try to determine what intervention impacts the rates and, hopefully, increases duration.”

The goal of TIPQC, supported by a state Department of Health grant, is to identify opportunities to improve birth outcomes and implement data-driven provider- and community-based performance improvement initiatives.

As of July 2012, approximately 50% of all newborns discharged from the newborn nursery were exclusively breast-fed, around 39% of newborns were fed formula and breast-fed, and 11% of newborns were fed only formula.

From the project, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center hopes to see at least a 10% increase in exclusive breast-feeding.

Carol Huber, R.N., B.S., the lactation consultant for the NICU, said:

“A recent survey of our NICU patients showed that 92 percent had received some breast milk during their stay. This is a noticeable improvement and it is really exciting to see the impact that the TIPQC projects have on our breastfeeding rates.”

Research has shown that infants can significantly benefit by being breast-fed. Breastfeeding reduces the risk of obesity, certain cancers, diabetes, and sudden infant death syndrome.

Vanderbilt implemented a new breast-feeding policy in January 2012, that calls for staff to avoid time limits on breast-feeding, providers to encourage skin-to-skin contact for mothers and health term babies during the first hour after birth, encouraging rooming-in as a default, and education mothers of risks of formula-feeding.

In addition, formula sponsored discharge bags or pacifiers, which can interfere with the success of breast-feeding, are no longer available in the newborn nursery. Once breastfeeding is established (around 3-4 weeks after birth) pacifiers can be introduced. In addition, quite time from 2-4 p.m has been introduced in the post-partum unit in order to give new mothers and babies a break from visitors and non-urgent hospital matters.

In addition, providers and nurses will receive additional training this fall on breast-feeding education.

Hopefully, hospitals around the world will catch on to this trend and exclusive breast-feeding programs will spread to other facilities.

Written by Grace Rattue