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herlife | spotlightWomen & Infants Center at St. Joseph’s Medical Centerby ann e. butenas | photos by bre baszler, bw black & whites photographyThe birth of a new baby is an experience to cherish and one thatparents (and many excited grandparents) spend months preparingfor. It should come as no surprise that St. Joseph’s MedicalCenter, at 1800 North California Street in Stockton, is one of the mostdesirable places in the region to have a baby. In fact, over 200 newbornsgreet the world each month in the hospital’s state-of-the-art birthing center.Moms who choose to give birth at the Women & Infants Centerare treated to a host of amenities such as spacious, private patient roomswith private bathrooms and showers; sleeping recliners and flat screentelevisions in each room; meal orders taken at the bedside; and freshlybaked cookies delivered every afternoon. Sounds like an upscale hotel?That’s what some of the new moms delivering their babies at St. Joseph’scompare it to. But rest assured, they also have state-of-the-art technologyin two operating rooms just for Cesarean sections, pain managementincluding epidurals, and a neonatal intensive care unit with eight connectingpod-like rooms of three to four isolettes each.But that’s not all! In March, St. Joseph’s Women & Infants Centerbecame the first hospital in San Joaquin County to receive the prestigiousBaby-Friendly Hospital certification from the World HealthOrganization and UNICEF, a designation achieved by only 133hospitals nationwide. The dedicated physicians, nurses and staff havebeen pursuing the initiative ambitiously for over two years in an effort tofully support all of the wonderful benefits associated with breastfeeding.Through this certification, St. Joseph’s actively promotes a culture thatvalues the benefits of breastfeeding and human milk as it relates to themother-child bonding experience and for the overall health benefits itprovides for the baby.“While St. Joseph’s has always been focused on creating a ‘babyfriendly’environment for parents and newborns, we are very proudto achieve the strict criteria for this official designation,” said DebbieRiisager, RN, Director of the Women & Infants Center.St. Joseph’s long-standing approach to delivering family-centeredcare includes “rooming-in,” where the baby stays in the same roomwith the mom, and “skin-to-skin,” where the baby has direct skin-to-skincontact with both mom and dad shortly after birth to promote healthyparent-child bonding.As part of the requirements for the Baby-Friendly certification, eachstaff member underwent 16 hours of classroom learning in breastfeedingand also had to complete a 3-hour clinical competency exam to evaluatetheir knowledge of breastfeeding skills and their ability to compassionatelyand informatively work with the moms. St. Joseph’s has fiveInternational Breastfeeding Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC) onstaff, and a sixth consultant will soon come on board.Now that the birthing center’s emphasis is on supporting breastfeeding,the overall culture has changed in response to this approach.18 HERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM