GALVESTON, Texas - Austin Women’s Hospital, operated by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, has been designated a 2010 Texas 10-Step Facility by the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Hospital Association. This annual designation is awarded to birthing facilities that provide optimal care to improve breastfeeding outcomes.
“We have worked very hard to earn the Texas 10-Step designation,” said Laura Evans, hospital administrator. “And we are proud to be a member of these select Texas facilities that promote the healthiest outcomes for our newest Texans.”
In order to support mothers who intend to breastfeed their infants, the hospital has implemented 10 goals, or “steps,” before, during and after delivery. The steps include breastfeeding education for all pregnant women and encouragement of mothers to breastfeed their newborns within an hour of birth, with 30 minutes being ideal. These practices help the hospital meet its goal of having 75 percent of mothers exclusively breastfeeding when they go home with their newborns.
Acquiring the Texas 10-Step designation requires that a facility train staff on the 10 steps within the first six months of employment, offer annual training updates and provide mothers with the resources to get continued care after going home.
UTMB Austin Women’s Hospital opened in 2004 and features four labor and delivery rooms, two labor/delivery/recovery rooms, two operating rooms, 10 postpartum rooms and 16 newborn nursery beds.
The Texas 10-Step Hospital Program is modeled after the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative of the World Health Organization.