Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital has earned designation as a Texas Ten Step facility by the Texas Department of State Health Services for the eighth consecutive year.
The Texas Ten Step program supports breastfeeding as the preferred feeding method for newborns and infants, and there are currently 10 Memorial Hermann Health System hospitals designated as Texas Ten Step facilities.
Based on the World Health Organization (WHO)/UNICEF's Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, the program assists birth facilities in supporting breastfeeding mothers before, during, and after delivery. Birthing facilities are encouraged by the program to identify breastfeeding resources for mothers after discharge. The program also assists facilities in improving on national performance measures like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Breastfeeding Report Card.
"We are very proud that our commitment to support the health of breastfeeding mothers and their children has once again been recognized by the Texas Ten Step program," said Memorial Hermann Sugar Land lactation consultant Ann Kingrey, BSN, RN, IBCLC. "Teaching and fostering best practices for mothers to nourish their newborns and infants can have lifelong benefits and impacts families and communities far beyond the hospital setting."
To earn Texas Ten Step designation, facilities are required to evaluate current practices; educate all healthcare staff with evidence-based courses; make improvements where needed; and must be jointly designated as a Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite that supports an employee's right to express breastmilk while at work.
Memorial Hermann Sugar Land offers a broad spectrum of women's services, including an outpatient lactation center, a high-risk pregnancy clinic and a 10-bed Level II-B Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
www.memorialhermann. org/locations/sugar- land/
