Baby-Friendly: Beacon Supports Breastfeeding Moms

Memorial Hospital and Elkhart General are Baby-Friendly designated birth facilities.

This gold standard of care is a designation of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that promotes the value and importance of breastfeeding.

Evidence shows that breastfeeding is one the most important things you can do for your newborn, and an abundance of research proves that children who are breastfed have lower risk of disease and overall improved health outcomes.

At Memorial Hospital and Elkhart General, we help all moms make an educated decision about feeding choice and then support you in your decision. As part of our Baby-Friendly designations, we offer to help all mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.

We provide lactation services as well as breastfeeding classes to give you the confidence and skills needed to successfully breastfeed your newborn. In addition, breastfed babies will not be offered pacifiers or any food other than breast milk. We allow and encourage mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.

Moms who deliver in a Baby-Friendly hospital feel more confident in caring for their babies and develop a stronger bond with their babies whether breastfeeding or not.