Already the Best Place For Breast Feeding Mothers to Deliver, Rhode Island Just Got Better

EAST GREENWICH, RI – Kent Hospital’s Women’s Care Center has been recognized as a baby-friendly birth facility, according to Rebecca Burke, the chief nursing officer.

"It is an honor to have Kent Hospital recognized as a Baby-Friendly® facility,” said Burke, R.N., MS, NEA-BC, and vice president patient care services at Kent Hospital. “The staff of the Women’s Care Center work tirelessly to ensure the best experience for new mothers. Becoming Baby-Friendly recognized, shows the commitment and dedication that our staff has to providing optimal care to breastfeeding mothers and their newborns. Kent Hospital has been working towards best practices and evidence-based national studies to improve the quality, support and the healthiest start to life.”

Care New England’s Women& Infants Hospital was recognized as a Baby-Friendly Designated birth facility back in August 2015. Women & Infants is the second-largest hospital in the nation to achieve this designation.

Kent Hospital is the second biggest hospital in the state.

Rhode Island was already known as the best place in America for mothers to deliver a baby, if they want to breast feed, according to a new report card issued in August from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A few other states did almost as well.

New Hampshire scored a 90 for its breastfeeding care at maternity center and hospitals. That number tied Delaware.

But Rhode Island topped the entire nation as the baby-friendliest state. According to the report card, 98.2 percent of live births in Rhode Island happened at so-called baby-friendly hospitals, meaning they're recognized by the World Health Organization and the United Nations as the best care providers for breastfeeding.

By comparison, 50 percent of Granite State babies were born at baby-friendly facilities. That was good enough for third place behind Delaware at 85.8 percent.

In the big picture, Rhode Island has gained some ground over the past two years in the campaign to encourage breastfeeding,

On one key indicator -- the breastfeeding rate (or proportion of babies who were ever breastfed) -- its score inched up from 79.7 (in the CDC's 2014 report card) to 81.8 this year.Also when considering another key indicator -- how many babies are still being exclusively breast fed at six months -- Rhode Island at 27.4 percent compared favorably to other U.S. states.

Only eight states -- Montana (33.8 percent); Maine (32 percent); Vermont (31.3 percent); Oregon (30.6 percent); Hawaii (30 percent); Idaho (28.1 percent); Washington (28 percent); and Alaska (27.8 percent) -- did better.

Massachusetts, which is one of only 29 states to already meet the 2020 goal for percentage ever breastfed, actually did worse in that category. The Bay State dropped down to 19.9 percent, when counting babies exclusively on breast milk when six months old. However, 67.9 percent of Bay State babies were still being fed some breast milk at six months, and that statistic was third best in the U.S. behind Utah at 70.4 percent and Oregon at 68.2 percent.

Besides Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Maine are also among the 29 states meeting the 2020 goals.

Rhode Island and New Hampshire are the only two New England states yet to meet the 2020 goals.

The CDC considers breastfeeding "a key strategy to improve public health" with benefits for mothers, infants and children. Ideally, infants should be exclusively breast fed for their first six months and then fed some breast milk along with other foods for their first year, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Although breastfeeding is one of the most effective preventive health measures for infants and mothers, half of U.S.-born babies are given formula within the first week, and the rates of breastfeeding decline significantly by six months. Best Fed Beginnings sought to reverse these trends by dramatically increasing the number of U.S. hospitals implementing a proven model for maternity services that better supports a new mother’s choice to breastfeed.

For more information on Kent Hospital’s Women’s Care Center, please visit Kentri.org/womenscarecenter.