When welcoming a baby, many parents are overwhelmed by joy, but also by anxiety. What if they don’t know how to make the best choices for their new addition? Accessible resources and plenty of support are key, and Pennsylvania Hospital’s Women’s Health division is committed to providing both.
In March, the division participated in the first of two assessments as PAH pursues Baby-Friendly re-designation. This distinction is part of an initiative led by the World Health Organization and UNICEF that promotes the implementation of evidence-based practices that help parents to successfully breastfeed their babies. While not all parents choose to or are able to breastfeed, this global initiative encourages the creation of a compassionate environment in which parents can make informed choices about infant feeding.
“It’s all about successfully transitioning babies from the womb to life on the outside and setting them up for optimal health,” said Debi Ferrarello, MSN, MS, RN, IBCLC, NE-BC, director of Parent Education. “Our team is focused on supporting families and helping parents make and meet their own goals.”
The Baby-Friendly surveyors’ virtual visit gave the teams the chance to showcase several of their innovative practices. For example, while many hospitals reserve pasteurized donor human milk for the sickest babies, PAH’s donor milk is also available for well babies who meet certain criteria. The division is also working hard to ensure they can accommodate patients’ desire for skin-to-skin contact even after a Caesarean birth (C-section). The team also highlighted the wealth of (now virtual) classes available to parents through their pregnancies, postpartum periods, and lactation journeys. There are even classes for grandparents who are eager to support the care and feeding of their new grandchildren.
Megan Fenningham found the “Baby Basics” and breastfeeding classes particularly valuable while she was pregnant with her son Griffin. “I had held babies before and changed diapers, but the classes really helped my husband and I understand what to expect,” she said.
When Fenningham needed to have an unscheduled C-section in February, she continued to feel comfortable and supported every step of the way. “At a time when there were many unknowns and we didn’t know if there was a right answer or solution, they really made us feel confident in every decision we were making,” she said.
“All of the birth hospitals in Philadelphia have been named Baby-Friendly, but Penn has led the way,” said Elizabeth Quigley, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, clinical director of Women’s Health. “These changes aren’t easy to make, but as we’ve enculturated new best practices to care for the parents and babies in our community, it has translated to our patients feeling more supported than ever.”
Ferrarello shared this sentiment, adding, “We’ve helped make this the ‘City of Motherly Love’!”
The Labor & Delivery team conducted simulations to demonstrate how to rapidly respond to postpartum blood loss, then shared the scenarios virtually.
Pa. Honors Pennsy’s Hemorrhage Prevention Efforts
For the second year in a row, a quality improvement project led by the Women’s Health division has earned statewide recognition. The team’s Code Crimson initiative was chosen by the Department of Health’s Patient Safety Authority as a 2021 “I AM Patient Safety” award winner.
To address postpartum hemorrhage — a leading cause of maternal mortality — the division created a new emergency response. If a patient experiences excessive bleeding after delivery, staff can declare a Code Crimson, prompting an interprofessional team to respond rapidly with evidence-based protocols according to the stage of blood loss.
For Quigley, this project was a “labor of love” made possible by the efforts of staff across disciplines, such as Obstetrics, Critical Care, Anesthesia, and the Blood Bank. “We’ve continually optimized the process since going live last summer,” she said. “Together, we’re working to eliminate disparities and support the highest standard of care for our pregnant and postpartum patients.”