Jun 12, 2013 5 min read

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Andrea Simpson of North Strabane Township breast-feeds her 17-month-old daughter, Sophia, for the last time as she weans her off breast milk.

Jim McNutt / Observer-Reporter

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Jessica Ryan and Chris Ryan of McDonald, with their 36-hour-old daughter, Emily, listen to Linda Kelley, a registerd nurse, lactation consultant and childbirth educator, talk about services available to the family through Washington Health System.

Jim McNutt / Observer-Reporter

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Lauren DeJohn of North Franklin Township holds her 3-month-old son, Jax, whom she breast-feeds.

Jim McNutt / Observer-Reporter

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Kaleena Chiprich uses a breast pump to feed her daughter, Nikalena.

Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter

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Kaleena Chiprich feeds her 9-month-old daughter, Nikalena, with milk she expresses through a breast pump.

Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter

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Breast-feeding is a delicate topic for expecting moms, new moms and veteran moms: Should I? Shouldn’t I? Why can’t I?

For Lauren DeJohn and Kaleena Chiprich, there was no question about wanting to breast-feed their babies, but both women hit roadblocks within the first few weeks of nursing their newborns, and without the support of their husbands, family and Linda Kelley, lactation consultant at Washington Health System, both women might have given up and switched to formula.

“I was so happy to have found the breast-feeding support group at Washington Hospital,” said Chiprich, 30. She and her husband, Nick, 26, welcomed their first child, Nikalena, into the world nearly 10 months ago.

“Nick and I were both in agreement that breast-feeding was the best choice for our baby. We studied all the benefits and knew it was what we wanted, but after about two weeks, I started to get discouraged. The baby was feeding every 45 minutes, I was sore and tired, and I wanted to give up. Nick kept encouraging me to keep going and were blessed to have found Linda at the Washington Hospital’s Breast-feeding Support Group. Thanks to her, I am still nursing and hope to continue until Nikalena is at least 1 year old.”

DeJohn, 24, and her husband, Alan, 26, welcomed their their son, Jax Parker, in February at Washington Hospital.

“Even though I had a C-section and was not alert right away after Jax was born, the nurses and staff at the hospital knew that I wanted to nurse him right away. They tried hard to give me the skin-to-skin contact that is recommended as soon as possible and they were helpful with every question or problem,” said DeJohn. “If I called to ask a question and a nurse wasn’t available I would ask to speak to Linda. She always called right back. My family doctor recommended her to me. She has been wonderful.”

With the help of two grants from the Pennsylvania Women, Infants and Children supplemental nutrition program and the Pennsylvania Department of Health totaling $52,504, Washington Health System has been able to encourage, educate and enable more Washington County mothers like Chiprich and DeJohn to begin breast-feeding their newborns immediately after birth and to continue at least through the first year of life.

The first of the two grants from WIC in the amount of $50,000 began in July 2012 and will run through September. The grant supports maternity practice changes to promote breast-feeding at Washington Health System, nursing staff education on breast-feeding, and the on-site WIC Peer Counselor Program.

The second grant from the Department of Health for $2,504, supports breast-feeding education for physician practices.

“We have been successful with helping many new mothers begin and continue nursing,” said Kelley. “The grants were applied for in an effort to increase breast-feeding rates and improve the success and support of women who choose to breast-feed. Breast milk is the best nutrition for a baby. There are many short- and long-term health benefits for both mothers and babies who choose to breast-feed. In 1997, 42 percent of mothers delivering at Washington Hospital planned to breast-feed: the breast-feeding initiation rate in 2012 was 61 percent, which proves that more mothers are choosing to breast-feed but face challenges with inconsistent information, timely help with problems, and ongoing support from family community and health care providers. We have been successful at trying to ease those challenges for them.”

Tips for breast-feeding

To help women meet their breast-feeding goals and to enhance the lactation program, Washington Health System has implemented these changes:

• Developed a hospital-based WIC peer counselor to provide extra support to all breast-feeding mothers during their hospital stay and to enhance followup with WIC mothers after discharge

• Collaborating with obstetricians, pediatricians and other health-care providers and their office staff to provide an educational session on lactation issues, hospital practice enhancements and available resources

• Placing all babies directly onto the mother’s chest (skin to skin) to help the baby adapt. This also encourages and uses the baby’s natural instincts to begin breast-feeding.

• No longer distributing formula company discharge kits.

• Requiring all obstetric nurses will complete a 15-hour online breast-feeding education program plus five hours of practicum education with the lactation consultant.

• Developing and displaying breast-feeding educational materials in the hospital and physician offices.

• Providing a fully-equipped, dedicated lactation office for private consultation.

The lactation program has always included the following:

• Mothers are taught proper positioning and latch-on techniques; encouraged to keep their babies in their rooms to learn their feeding cues; taught how to express and maintain milk supply if separated from their infants; and are given written information and resource phone numbers for follow-up.

• Breast-fed babies only receive mother’s milk (no water or formula unless medically necessary). They are encouraged to satisfy their sucking need to receive milk and stimulate more milk and they are not routinely given pacifiers.

• After discharge, breastfeeding mothers are offered follow-up phone calls; monthly parent nights out; breast-feeding consultation; breast-feeding products; and patient and community-focused educational materials regarding breast-feeding.