TRMC selected for state Baby-Friendly Hospital 5-Star Incentive Project 02/26/2013
The Georgia Department of Public Health and the Georgia SHAPE Initiative are pleased to announce that nine hospitals, including Tift Regional Medical Center (TRMC), have been chosen to participate in the Baby-Friendly Hospital 5-STAR Incentive Project. Baby Friendly Hospitals® promote and support breastfeeding with supportive policies and practices, staff education and post-discharge community referrals. To achieve this highly regarded designation, a hospital must implement maternity care practices known internationally as The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.
Funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 5-Star Incentive Project will provide training, technical assistance and financial support for this select group of hospitals that are already making significant progress toward designation as a Baby-Friendly® hospital.
There is mounting evidence that babies who are exclusively breastfed for at least the first six months of life have a much lower risk of becoming overweight or obese. Georgia currently ranks 43rd in the U.S. for breastfeeding care delivered in maternity facilities. “Increasing breastfeeding rates in Georgia is critical to reducing obesity rates,” said Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., commissioner, Georgia Department of Public Health. “With one in five of our precious children in Georgia classified as obese, our efforts must focus on the very beginning of these new lives.”
The nine Georgia hospitals selected to participate in the Baby Friendly Hospital 5-Star Incentive Project are:
