The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) yesterday awarded 19 hospitals for outstanding performances in creating breastfeeding-friendly environments, including a hospital that introduced an interactive robot to teach new mothers how to breastfeed.
The WHO says breastfeeding is an unequaled way of providing food for infants’ healthy growth and development, providing antibodies that help protect them against many common childhood illnesses and chronic diseases later in life.
The WHO and UNICEF in 1991 launched the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative to encourage health facilities worldwide to better support breastfeeding, and also developed the “10 steps to successful breastfeeding” framework to promote optimal clinical care for new mothers and their infants.
Photo: CNA
The HPA in 2001 launched a national baby-friendly healthcare facility certification, based on the 10 steps, and there are now 139 certified baby-friendly healthcare facilities across the country.
The administration held a ceremony to award 19 baby-friendly healthcare facilities for their excellent performances this year.
Although the government encourages breastfeeding, it also respects every woman’s autonomy and their decisions, HPA Director-General Shen Ching-fen (沈靜芬) said.
The government prioritizes new mothers’ mental state, and that both the mother and baby are healthy, Shen said.
Hospitals need to provide customized health education counseling, companionship and care, which are the key to creating a breastfeeding-friendly environment, she said.
About 70 percent of infants are born in certified baby-friendly hospitals, she said, adding that if new mothers learn how to breastfeed during hospitalization, they are more likely to build confidence and continue after returning home.
The evaluation for the awards was conducted by specialists and academics, based on the hospitals’ effectiveness in promoting baby-friendly policies, cross-team collaboration, creative strategies and care quality, the HPA said.
Eight hospitals were awarded the “High Distinction Award,” 11 hospitals were awarded the “Excellence Award,” and two were awarded the “Innovative Award.”
Among them, three hospitals — National Cheng Kung University Hospital (NCKUH), and Taipei City Hospital’s Renai and Heping Fuyou branches — received both the “High Distinction” and “Innovative” awards.
The NCKUH introduced an interactive robot named “Kebbi” teaching new mothers how to breastfeed through voice and touch-based interactions, the HPA said.
Kebbi makes health education counseling more interesting, as well as saving nurses’ time by about 50 percent, it said.
Aside from assisting nurses in teaching breastfeeding techniques to new mothers, Kebbi can also read story books to infants in a soothing tone, it said.
Taipei City Hospital’s Renai Branch developed a smart care companionship model, in which it can promptly interact with parents through the Line messaging app, listening and responding to their questions, and giving suggestions, the HPA said.
In addition to breastfeeding consultations provided by the hospitals, the HPA said new parents can call its pregnancy and free infant care hotline (0800-870-870) or find more information on its maternity care Web site (mammy.hpa.gov.tw).
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