LEWISTON – Central Maine Medical Center has received international recognition for its efforts to promote and support breastfeeding.

Baby-Friendly USA has designated CMMC as a “Baby-Friendly Hospital” for its sustained effort to provide an optimal level of care for breastfeeding mothers and their babies while insuring high quality mother-baby care.

Baby-Friendly hospitals focus on a “rooming-in” concept that seeks to keep mothers and babies together throughout their hospital stay. The Baby-Friendly designation involves a lengthy list of requirements followed by a rigorous on-site evaluation.

Baby-Friendly USA is the U.S. authority for the implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, a program sponsored by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, commonly referred to as UNICEF. The initiative is a worldwide effort to encourage and recognize hospitals that successfully employ the “Baby-Friendly 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding” program.

CMMC is the second hospital in Maine to receive the designation. Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta was certified as Baby-Friendly in 1997. Of the more than 5,000 hospitals providing patient care in the United States, 53 are “Baby-Friendly.”

“The benefits of breastfeeding are very well documented. It’s been shown that breastfeeding really is the beginning of preventive healthcare – breastfed babies are healthier babies,” said Anne Lafreniere, nurse manager of CMMCs Special Delivery Family Birthing Center.

“The Baby-Friendly designation shows that CMMC is committed to delivering the best possible care for mom, baby and the entire family. Our nurses underwent 18 hours of training on lactation with a special focus on the rooming-in’ concept that allows mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day,” said Lafreniere.

“Our approach for achieving this designation,” said Gloria Ouellette, RN, CMMC’s Baby-Friendly project manager, “includes prenatal education, and creating hospital support that extends into the pediatric arena. The certification process – which took two days to complete, and included nursing staff, physicians, and patients – demonstrated that we are following all of the standards set forth through the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. It’s a very tightly focused program, so we’re very pleased that our efforts have been rewarded.”

The Baby-Friendly initiative at CMMC includes the Special Delivery Family Birthing Center, Central Maine Obstetrics-Gynecology, Central Maine Pediatrics, Central Maine Family Practice and the Central Maine Family Medicine Residency, all CMMC-affiliated healthcare practices. Some 150 employees completed training.

Ouellette said that during the past year the monthly average of mothers who initiate breastfeeding while staying with their newborn at CMMC has ranged from 75 percent to 92 percent. To remain a Baby-Friendly hospital, CMMC must successfully encourage at least 75 percent of new mothers to initiate breastfeeding.

The Baby-Friendly designation extends for a five-year period.