- Home
- About Us
- Patients
- Services
- Quality
- Careers
- Members
| Baby friendly is best for St Peter’s Hospital |
| Written by Communications Team |
|
St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey has been awarded a Certificate of Commitment in its first step towards gaining international recognition from the UNICEF (United Nation’s Children’s Fund) Baby Friendly Initiative. The Initiative is a global programme set up by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation and in the UK they work with health professionals to ensure that mothers and babies receive high quality support with breastfeeding. Alison Howker, Maternity Matron, said: “We are delighted to receive the Certificate of Commitment, which shows we are dedicated to implementing recognised best practice standards to support our new mothers with breastfeeding. We are really committed to increasing our breastfeeding rates and want to ensue that our staff have the knowledge and skills to help mums get it right and stick with it. This is why we decided to join forces with the Baby Friendly Initiative and to run a series of breastfeeding courses for our midwives, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurses and maternity assistants.”  Senior Midwife Tricia Watt and Infant Feeding Assistant Alex Bell with the UNICEF Certificate of Commitment. “We know that breastfeeding protects babies against a wide range of serious illnesses including gastroenteritis and respiratory infections in infancy as well as allergies and diabetes in childhood. We also know that it can reduce the mother’s risk of some cancers. New mums may also be interested to hear that it’s easier, cheaper and simply less hassle than bottle feeding!” “We want to offer as much support as possible to our mothers who want to breastfeed and the Baby Friendly Initiative is another positive step in this direction.” |
| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 14 September 2011 12:41 ) |
