St. Catherine Hospital holding celebration for Baby Friendly Designation

Garden City, KS. – (March 15, 2018) –St. Catherine Hospital worked diligently for two years to earn the internationally-respected designation as a Baby Friendly hospital — only the second one in Kansas. This program recognizes hospitals that offer the finest level of care for infant feeding, skin to skin contact and mother-baby bonding.

Now, The Maternal Child Center at St. Catherine Hospital is inviting the public to a come-and-go celebration of the Baby Friendly designation on Monday, March 19, between 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. A light lunch will be provided compliments of the hospital. The event will be held in Classroom B on St. Catherine’s lower level.

Hospital President and CEO Scott Taylor said, “I encourage everyone to stop by Monday and join the festivities. Our staff has worked so hard, and they want to share the celebration of this accomplishment with you. After all, this community — the people we serve — is why we did it.”

The Baby-Friendly Hospital initiative is a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Baby-Friendly USA is the program’s authority for program implementation in this country, and granted the prestigious award to St. Catherine Hospital, after completion of a rigorous on-site survey.

The road to the Baby Friendly designation began in 2013 when St. Catherine Hospital decided to participate in High 5 for Mom & Baby, a program initiated and funded by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund that encourages evidence based maternity care practices that support breastfeeding.

To further the mission, St. Catherine ended up being one of only 100 hospitals in the country selected for funding by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to participate in the EMPower Breastfeeding Training, a program to assist hospitals in the process of incorporating the ten steps to successful breastfeeding to which a hospital must adhere to receive, and retain, a Baby-Friendly designation. With a great team effort and support from local and state agencies, the families of western Kansas can be assured their babies have the healthiest start to their new life.

Questions about the Baby Friendly celebration should be directed to Janet Colson at 620-272-2309 or M.JanetColson@Centura.Org.