Alice Springs Hospital has received its Baby Friendly reaccreditation by the Baby Friendly Health Initiative (BFHI).
Of note is the 100 per cent achievement by Alice Springs Hospital in meeting each of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, which is endorsed by UNICEF and WHO, as part of the benchmarking for Baby Friendly hospitals.
In 2015 Alice Springs Hospital was the only hospital in Australia to receive 100 per cent in the Baby Friendly accreditation by the BFHI assessors, and receiving 100 per cent again is an incredible achievement.
In August this year Alice Springs Hospital welcomed two BFHI representatives, who surveyed staff and patients for accreditation in 2018. The accreditation is conducted every three years and all hospitals across Australia can undergo the accreditation process.
BFHI practices are instigated to ensure that key messages about breastfeeding are consistent across Australia and throughout the world.
Quotes Attributable to Minister for Health, Natasha Fyles:
Territorians deserve access to the best health services and this major achievement highlights the excellent work that is being accomplished by our hard working team at the Alice Springs Hospital.
Alice Springs Hospital has also successfully met all of the criteria for reaccreditation and as a Baby Friendly hospital promotes, protects and supports breastfeeding.
Having recently visited the children and maternity wards at Alice Springs Hospital I know that the dedicated staff also pride themselves on educating patients on the importance of breastfeeding and have close to a 98 per cent rate of breastfeeding on discharge.
I congratulate all the hard working and dedicated staff at the Alice Springs Hospital, who continue to do the community proud.
Quotes Attributable to Clinical Midwife Manager of the Maternity and Midwifery, Diana Baseley:
We make sure our midwives are fully aware of, and that they practice the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.
We provide new mothers with as much support and information as possible and we also have a Lactation Consultant available for any additional assistance that the new mothers may require.
This accomplishment shows the passionate commitment by the hospital staff to the BFHI and the supportive breastfeeding culture at Alice Springs Hospital.
