Forbes Hospital recognized for its efforts to promote breastfeeding

Forbes Hospital recently became a facility recognized for its efforts to promote and encourage breastfeeding.

The Monroeville hospital was named a Keystone 10 facility, a program developed under the state Department of Health (DOH) to assist birthing hospitals “in implementing evidence-based maternity care practice, with a goal of improving breastfeeding care and rates, and ultimately improving the health of mothers and babies.”

The state DOH partnered with the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to develop the Keystone 10 initiative, according to its website.

It was modeled after the Texas Ten Step Star Achiever Initiative, which helps hospitals improve policies and processes that affect breastfeeding outcomes.

Dr. Bernard Pettica, Forbes’ director of labor, delivery, nursing and postpartum, said he has been delivering babies since 1979 and has worked at Forbes since 1989. He’s been educating new mothers on the benefits of breastfeeding since.

“There are a lot of positives that come with it,” he said. The highlights include bonding between the baby and mom, the passing of immunities, a reduction in Sudden Infant Death, allergies and even diabetes, Pettica said.

“And with all the allergies babies can develop from formula, I think breastfeeding is so important. You can’t replace breast milk. Companies have tried to emulate mom’s milk — it’s just not the same,” he said.

He said getting all doctors and nurses “on the same page” regarding breastfeeding’s benefits has taken years. Now, the hospital helps around 1,300 families deliver their babies, and it is equipped with family-centered birthing suites that allow husbands and partners to be there during and after the delivery. The unit also features a Neonatal Intensive Care Center on the same floor.

Pettica said that all helps provide an atmosphere that is comfortable and allows for more interaction with parents, including more opportunity to discuss breastfeeding as an option. He said the hospital, and others, have taken a holistic approach in getting everyone involved in educating women on the importance of breastfeeding from the start of pregnancy.

“We give them the pros and educate them. Because once the baby is born, parents are bombarded with so much information, we want it to be an easy decision at that point,” Pettica said.

But he is also wary of making mothers feel guilty for not going down the breastfeeding route.

“We just encourage them to learn more about it,” he said.

Even still, the hospital touts a rate of more than 90 percent of new mothers that have chosen to breastfeed, said Tiffany Mayer, a nurse manager at Forbes.

“To support mothers in this choice, we offer prenatal breastfeeding classes, lactation counselors who are International Board Certified along with Certified Lactation Counselors, phone consultations, mandatory education for nurses, obstetricians and pediatricians, post-discharge support and promotion of 24-hour rooming in,” she said in a news release.

Mayer said the hospital also offers skin-to-skin care following all deliveries, including those delivered by cesarean section. Nurses also call new mothers three to five days following discharge to check on their wellbeing, she said.