Research has long-touted the benefits of breastfeeding for newborns, as well as mothers, and that’s why Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital is proud to once again receive the Texas Ten Step Designation from the Texas Hospital Association and the Texas Department of State Health Services. The Texas Ten Step Program encourages breastfeeding as the preferred method of feeding for newborns and infants. This is the fifth year in a row Memorial Hermann Katy has received this designation.
“Approximately 2,400 babies are born each year at Memorial Hermann Katy, and we aim to do everything we can to get the youngest, newest members of our community off to a healthy start. This designation is a representation of the hard work that goes on year-round to keep babies healthy,” says Carol Carroll, BA, BSN, RNC-MNN, IBCLC, a lactation consultant at Memorial Hermann Katy.
Based on the World Health Organization (WHO)/ UNICEF’s Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, the Texas Ten Step Program aims to assist a birth facility’s support of breastfeeding mothers before, during, and after delivery; encourages them to identify breastfeeding resources for the mother after she is discharged; and encourages facilities to have 82 percent of mothers exclusively breastfeeding when they go home with their newborn.
“Life as a new mom can be overwhelming. Memorial Hermann Katy tries to ease that process by providing resources like hospital grade pump rentals and breastfeeding support classes,” says Carroll.
Memorial Hermann Katy provides quality, compassionate healthcare to even the youngest patients, with a Level III neonatal intensive care unit providing intermediate care for infants who require continuous monitoring. The hospital also has a dedicated pediatric unit and a special children’s transport team with specially trained nurses and neonatal and pediatric intensive care physicians, should a child need to be taken to Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.
For more information on the Texas Ten Step Program, call Veronica Hendrix, Program Coordinator at (512) 341-4592, or visit the web site at www.texastenstep.org.