Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center's Family Birthing Center exceeded both state and national standards on a nationwide survey of maternity care practices conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Every two years, the CDC administers the Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) survey to all hospitals and birth centers in the U.S. and its territories that routinely provide maternity care. HRRMC was one of 2,582 facilities that responded to the mPINC survey in 2015, representing 82 percent of facilities across the nation that provide maternity services.
The CDC calculated scores for every facility and state and recently released that data. HRRMC's total mPINC score was 90 out of 100, an increase of six percent over 2013. Across Colorado, the average score was 63, and the national average mPINC score was 79.
A facility's mPINC score is an overall quality score that averages seven sub-scores in areas such as labor and delivery care, postpartum feeding of breastfed infants, breastfeeding assistance and staff training.
Hospital routines can help or hinder new mothers and babies while they are learning to breastfeed, according to the CDC. Birth facility practices that create a supportive environment for breastfeeding begin prenatally and continue through discharge. These practices include newborns' skin-to-skin contact with their mothers, hospital staff teaching about breastfeeding, and hospital staff encouraging mothers and babies to room together.
"I am very proud of this accomplishment. It is a complete team effort involving the physicians and nursing staff here in the Family Birthing Center who are all very committed to introducing and helping with breastfeeding," said Judy Smith, manager of the Family Birthing Center. "We all spend time on education and research to be sure we are offering the most up-to-date information and techniques to the moms."
For more information about HRRMC's Family Birthing Center, call (719) 530-2277 or visit hrrmc.com.
