Photo By Jean Graves | Amanda Greagoff and Capt. Jennifer Regan, registered nurses on the Bayne-Jones Army...... read more read more
FORT POLK, La. — Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital earned the Louisiana Department of Health Gift designation. This evidence-based designation program provides resources to increase breastfeeding rates, improve birthing service and enhance patient-centered care at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk and at civilian medical facilities in Louisiana.
Amanda Greagoff, registered nurse on BJACH’s labor, delivery and postpartum ward spearheaded the initiative to earn the designation.
“Breastfeeding has many benefits for both mothers and newborns,” she said. “As a participating facility with the Gift program we are provided with training, information, and the opportunity to network with others in our field.”
Greagoff said providing support to families by having trained team members gives her department the ability to empower mothers with the information necessary to make educated choices about breastfeeding.
“Our team is working very hard to go above and beyond as we continue to strive to improve the quality of care we provide our community,” she said. “Next year, our goal is to earn the Shining Star designation, which has more rigorous requirements.”
Allison Harrison, military lactation counselor serves as an ambassador for the local Mom2Mom Global chapter at Fort Polk and is an American Red Cross volunteer for BJACH.
“Mom2Mom is a peer support community for any pregnant, lactating or formerly lactating parent to support each other through the unique challenges that breastfeeding parents face,” she said. “I formed the local chapter in summer 2021. My goal was to create a safe space where parents could ask questions and receive appropriate and respectful advice based on the mother’s breastfeeding goals and the infant’s wellbeing. I want parents to have up-to-date American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization recommendations on breastfeeding.”
Harrison said most parents that stop breastfeeding do so because of lack of support.
“I am so incredibly happy that BJACH has earned the Gift designation, it is a great step in the right direction,” she said. “I hope the staff in every department is encouraged to look at their own social, personal, religious, or cultural biases about breastfeeding in an effort to provide the best possible care to our lactating parents.”
Harrison has completed the certified lactation counselor course and is awaiting the results of her credentialing examination. She hopes to become a TRICARE approved lactation provider in 2023.
“In the meantime, I became a Red Cross volunteer to help BJACH fill some of the gaps in their lactation services,” she said. “I have been working with the hospital referral resource for patients with lactation related questions. I receive numerous phone calls, texts, and social media messages each week from parents who need help breastfeeding or pumping. I make house calls when able to help new parents who are having difficulty latching comfortably and effectively. I spend most of my time educating and empowering new parents on what questions they can ask their own medical providers to best ensure their breastfeeding goals are respected.”
Maj. Sandra Rodich, clinical nurse in-charge of BJACH LDRP said her goal is to increase lactation services in her department and to create a system where parents can come back for breastfeeding assistance at any time, if they have questions.
“During the first 12 weeks they can come back to triage for assistance,” she said. “Eventually I would like to hire a lactation consultant. I’m thankful for our Red Cross volunteer who is always willing to assist. I want our patients to feel like they can breastfeed without pressure and get assistance as needed.”
Rodich said her staff keeps up on evidence-based best practices about breastfeeding, provides patients with the most up-to-date information and coaches fathers on how they can assist.
“We are currently working on a lactation room for the patients to have a private place to come when they do need help,” she said. “Our patients need to feel like they oversee their own bodies and decisions concerning their babies. I think educating them on the benefits of breastfeeding is very important, but we never want patients to feel badly about not breastfeeding either. Each patient should have a good understanding of the basics when they are discharged from the hospital and if they don’t, we want them to feel comfortable enough to say something.”
Capt. Jennifer Regan, registered nurse, BJACH LDRP knows first hand about the benefits of breastfeeding.
“As an active-duty soldier, and the mother of twins I feel that breastfeeding provided me with so many benefits,” she said. “Breastfeeding takes energy and made it easier for me to lose the weight I gained during pregnancy. Breastfeeding allowed me to maximize my hours of sleep because I didn’t have to get up in the middle of the night to make bottles, the milk was always ready, available and at the correct temperature. Going back to work and leaving my babies was harder emotionally than I had ever imagined. However, knowing that my babies were getting my pumped milk allowed me to feel like I was providing them with the nutrition they needed when we were physically separated.”
Regan said there are regulations in place that protect a Soldier's right to a clean place to pump and to properly store milk.
“I believe breastfeeding is a personal choice and there is no wrong way to feed your baby; a fed baby is the best baby,” she said.
Regan said her department is fully prepared to support those who chose to breastfeed.
“The Gift designation provides families with free resources to help them be successful with breastfeeding,” she said. “Breastfeeding offers some unique benefits to the mother which includes decreasing a mother’s risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. It enhances bonding with their baby. A baby who breastfeeds exclusively has increased protection from illness during the first six months to a year of life. They are also less likely to have diarrhea, respiratory and ear infections. Breastfeeding can reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome as well as decrease diabetes and obesity later in adult life. Breastmilk is specific to the child it is made for and provides exactly what that child needs through each stage of development. It is like having their own personal nutrition blueprint.”
Greagoff said the Gift designation is important to BJACH and the Fort Polk community.
“The standards that we are held to with this designation along with patient feedback is helping us improve the quality of care and support our families need and expect. We are committed to meet each patient where they are and teaching them more about breastfeeding,” she said. “The quality of service and support we provide families continues to improve as we educate ourselves and our patients.”
Editor’s note: For more information on the Louisiana Department of Health Gift Program or Mom2Mom Global/Breastfeeding in Combat Boots visit their websites at: https://thegiftla.org/ or https://www.mom2momglobal.org/
| Date Taken: | 11.21.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.21.2022 15:54 |
| Story ID: | 433703 |
| Location: | FORT POLK, LA, US |
| Web Views: | 147 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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