Two Area Childbirth Centers Earn Breastfeeding Achievement Awards

NORTHAMPTON, GREENFIELD — Staff of the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Childbirth Center and the Birthplace at Franklin Medical Center received the 2014 Breastfeeding Achievement Award from the Mass. Department of Public Health.

This year, DPH recognized hospitals that practice skin-to-skin contact following a cesarean birth. CDH and Baystate Franklin are two of 21 hospitals in Massachusetts that have implemented this approach.

According to the MDPH, skin-to-skin practice improves breastfeeding outcomes, promotes thermoregulation and stabilization of blood glucose, decreases pain and stress, and regulates heart rate. “The skin-to-skin approach is beneficial to newborns in many ways,” said Lori Leistyna, a board-certified lactation consultant.

When cesarean delivery is medically necessary, some mothers who envisioned a more natural birth may be disappointed. However, allowing the mother to practice immediate skin-to-skin contact in the operating room enables her to bond with her baby in a timely manner, she added.

“The [CDH] Childbirth Center staff are committed to providing excellent breastfeeding care to mothers and their newborns and improving breastfeeding outcomes for all of our patients,” said Susan Pellicciotti, the center’s interim director.

Linda Jablonski, assistant nurse manager for the Birthplace at BFMC, noted that, “when a cesarean section is necessary, it is important to maintain a patient-centered birth experience. The Birthplace was one of the first in the state to implement immediate skin-to-skin contact in the operating room, a practice that is scientifically proven to provide long-term physical and emotional benefits for mothers and babies.”