William Newton Hospital renews High 5 status

Jun 22, 2021

• Share on Facebook
• Tweet
• Pin it
• Share on LinkedIn

For the sixth year, William Newton Hospital has met the requirements and received renewal of its High 5 for Mom & Baby status, a program offered by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund. The hospital began implementing High 5 best practices in 2012 and achieved full High 5 program recognition in 2015.

“Our Family Birthing Center has a long-standing commitment to supporting these initiatives,” said Chief Nursing Officer Debbie Marrs, BSN, RN. “High 5 participation helps us stay acutely aware of the needs for moms and babies.”

High 5 for Mom & Baby provides a framework to help Kansas hospitals and birthing centers improve health outcomes for breastfeeding women and their infants. To obtain this recognition, each facility is asked to complete a voluntary and self-reported evaluation and to follow at least five of the ten evidence-based practices below.

• Facility will have a written maternity care and infant feeding policy that addresses all ten High 5 for Mom & Baby practices supporting breastfeeding
• Facility will maintain staff competency in lactation support
• All pregnant women will receive information and instruction on breastfeeding
• Assure immediate and sustained skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby after birth
• All families will receive individualized infant feeding counseling
• Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breastmilk unless medically indicated
• Practice “rooming in” -allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day
• Families will be encouraged to feed their babies when the baby exhibits feeding cues, regardless of feeding methods
• Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants
• Provide mothers options for breastfeeding support in the community (such as a telephone number, walk-in clinic information, support groups, etc.) upon discharge

These steps are designed to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates in the state of Kansas. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), 60 percent of mothers stopped breastfeeding sooner than they planned. Some factors that influence how long or if a baby is breastfed include: hospital practices, education and encouragement, policies or support in the workplace, and access to community support. 

According to www.high5kansas.org, 36 hospitals and birth centers around the state met the criteria during this evaluation period.

Along with the recognition of being named a High 5 for Mom & Baby facility, William Newton Hospital also receives on-going education and training opportunities, support, and resources through a community of delivery centers.