ROCKPORT — Pen Bay Medical Center’s Birth Center recognizes the month of August as National Breastfeeding Month as declared by the United States Breastfeeding Committee. The week of Aug. 1to August 7 is also recognized as World Breastfeeding Week with the 2015 theme of “Breastfeeding at Work: Let’s Make it Work!”.

The week of Aug. 1 to 7 is also recognized as World Breastfeeding Week with the 2015 theme of “Breastfeeding at Work: Let’s Make it Work!”. World Breastfeeding Week is coordinated by the World Alliance of Breastfeeding Action (WABA) which is a global network of individuals and organizations concerned with the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding worldwide. This World Breastfeeding Week, WABA calls for concerted global action to support women to combine breastfeeding and work. Whether a woman is working in the formal, non-formal or home setting, it is necessary that she is empowered in claiming her and her baby’s right to breastfeed.

The Pen Bay Medical Center Birth Center proudly received the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) Care Award by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners and the International Lactation Consultant Association in 2014.

The IBCLC Care Award is a special recognition given to hospital-based facilities and community based agencies that staff an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant as part of the care team serving new families and is recognized for two years. To be eligible, the facility must have a currently certified IBCLC on staff, a professional lactation support program available five-to-seven days a week, evidence of having completed a breastfeeding or lactation consultant promotion/support project, and breastfeeding training for staff within the last two years.

Pen Bay Medical Center is the only healthcare facility in Maine to receive this distinguished award and one of four in northern New England, with the other three facilities located in New Hampshire.

The Pen Bay Medical Center Birth Center has eight lactation consultants, with six being IBCLC board certified, including the Director of Women’s Health, Kathleen Hastings. “Patients who chose Pen Bay Medical Center have more lactation support than most tertiary care centers. We are very progressive for a small community hospital and our patients receive the highest quality of care.” states Kathleen. In addition to the eight lactation consultants, the Triage RN in the Women’s Health practice is also a lactation counselor.

One of the newer initiatives focused on breastfeeding at Pen Bay Medical Center Birth Center is ‘Skin to Skin’. This encourages new mothers to have skin to skin contact with their baby in the first hour after delivery. The delivery team is now helping this happen, even if a mother has to have a cesarean birth in the operating room. Research has shown this facilitates the establishment of breastfeeding.

"We have had incredible feedback from families who have taken advantage of our new policy encouraging skin to skin contact between mother and baby, especially in the operating room after a cesarean." states Lynn Tauss, Certified Lactation Consultant and R.N.

The Pen Bay Medical Center Birth Center offers an array of classes and educational sessions to assist families with breastfeeding and providing assistance and support to mothers returning to work. Childbirth Education, Breastfeeding Basics and the Sibiling Program are a few of the featured courses.

The Mother's Milk Support Group is also offered and welcomes all nursing mothers from the Midcoast area. Mothers who have had a home birth, or delivered in another hospital are also welcome. The sessions are facilitated by one of Pen Bay’s lactation consultants and provides group interaction as well as individual assistance when needed. The format is informal and topics discussed often include challenges around newborn behaviors, parenting, and returning to work.

Please visit the Pen Bay Healthcare event calendar at penbayhealthcare.org for a complete list of all classes.