BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre encourages you and your family to get as much information as you need and ensure that your questions and concerns about breastfeeding have been answered.
Remember:
Read booklets such as Baby’s Best Chance (PDF 4 MB).
Ask your community health nurse, midwife or physician questions about breastfeeding during pregnancy.
Every mother and baby is different, so difficultly breastfeeding once doesn’t mean you can never do it.
Size and shape of your breasts and nipples doesn’t affect your ability to make breast milk.
Good information and good support will help you meet your goals.
Supporting Informed Decisions
BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre wants to ensure that we provide you with information about infant feeding and that we respect the choices you make.
So, if you tell us you are planning to formula feed, or if you are breastfeeding but need additional milk for your baby, your nurse will review the following two forms with you in the hospital:
Request for formula: Reviews infant feeding information to ensure you have enough information to make an informed choice and that your questions about formula use have been answered.
Donor milk request: Reviews process to obtain screened pasteurized human donor milk for babies who need additional milk for medical reasons.
The following hospital policies support families to breastfeed and to make informed decisions:
1. Infant feeding policy, which is consistent with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF's Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding (PDF 39 KB).
Policy Highlights:
Women and Families
- Families are provided with information about infant feeding options, so an informed choice about breastfeeding can be made. Mothers choosing to breastfeed are actively supported as outlined in UNICEF's Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.
- Breastfeeding is initiated within 30 minutes after birth unless mother and/or newborn are medically unstable.
- All mother-infant couples are to remain together during their hospital stay unless mother and/or baby are medically unstable.
- Women making an informed choice to formula feed are provided with information and support.
- Free samples of breast milk substitutes are not given to families to take home.
BC Women’s
- Operationally supports the development and implementation of systems and structures which create a culture conducive to breastfeeding.
- Collaborates with the community on all aspects of infant feeding and provides leadership in defining "best practice."
- Does not permit any literature, equipment, or other displays sponsored by manufacturers of breast milk substitutes at the facility.
- Health care providers are expected to practice BC Women’s standards defined for infant feeding.
2. Ethical purchasing policy, which complies with the World Health Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes.
Canada signed this WHO agreement in 1991. The Code directs hospitals and health care providers to make decisions about purchase and use of formula (breast milk substitutes) based on clinical rather than advertising claims.
The code supports families to make informed decisions and ensures that families choosing to give formula get accurate information and a quality product correctly labelled.
We do not provide marketing information or samples to families.
Created on: Oct. 29, 2008