Kaiser Permanente Fresno continues to increase breastfeeding rates

Kaiser Permanente Fresno continues to lead other Valley hospitals when it comes to getting new moms to exclusively breastfeed while in the hospital, and was recently recognized as one of the top 15 hospitals in the state for having high breastfeeding rates.

The California Department of Public Health recently released in-hospital exclusive breastfeeding rates from data collected in 2014. Nearly 90 percent of new babies born at KP Fresno are exclusively breastfed while in the hospital – a high amount compared to other Valley hospitals that only have rates between 40 and 70 percent. Exclusive in-hospital breastfeeding means the baby hasn’t received any formula.

“It really is a team effort,” Lactation Consultant Susan Herrera, RN, IBCLC, said. “We work closely with the nurses and pediatricians.”

In addition to KP Fresno, other KP hospitals in Walnut Creek, Oakland, San Francisco and Santa Rosa also were among the top 15 hospitals in the state for high in-hospital exclusive breastfeeding rates.

Several years ago, only about 60 percent of new moms at KP Fresno were exclusively breastfeeding. But the rates started to climb significantly after lactation consultants were made available to new moms eight hours a day, seven days a week. More recently, new breastfeeding policies were developed to help encourage the practice including.

Skin to skin contact immediately after delivery. All babies are placed on mom’s chest following their birth unless there’s a medical issue. This allows babies to find the breast on their own and latch on.

Not bathing newborns for 12-24 hours after delivery. This ensures the babies’ vernix – the waxy, cheese-like white coating on a baby’s skin – remains intact, which has an antibacterial effect and can form a physical barrier to the passage of bacteria.

Afternoon quiet time daily from 1 to 2:30 p.m. No visitors are allowed and nurses don’t disturb patients, which gives mom, dad and baby time to bond and focus on breastfeeding.

Lactation consultants and nurses also continue to educate new moms about reading baby cues so they can recognize when baby wants to eat. They also work with new moms on manually expressing milk and encourage them to spoon feed breast milk to babies who are sleepy, and not ready to latch on.

“We take each baby and work through their struggles,” Lactation Consultant Felicia Esqueda, RN, IBCLC said.

All of this has led to an increase in breastfeeding rates.

Now the focus is shifting toward how to best support moms when they go home. Discussions are happening around extending the hours of the breastfeeding clinic at First Street and working more closely with community partners, like Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

“We want to make ourselves better. Even though our numbers are high, we still want to make improvements,” Esqueda said.

But the changes that have already been made seem to be working for new moms and babies.

Said Esqueda, “The mothers have been so happy. They see the difference and they love it.”