Mercy Health - Youngstown Supports Mothers During Breastfeeding Awareness Month 2017: August activities reinforce the role of support in breastfeeding success

Ensuring successful breastfeeding is about more than making mothers aware of its benefits. Research shows that active support for mothers who wish to breastfeed is critical. That’s why Mercy Health - Youngstown is emphasizing that support during Breastfeeding Awareness Month in August.

 

Healthcare providers play an integral role in providing breastfeeding education and support. In fact, research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that mothers “often identify support received from healthcare providers as the most important intervention the healthcare system could offer to help them breastfeed.” The CDC urges that professional support is “particularly critical in the first few weeks after delivery, when lactation is being established.”

 

Anna M. Klejka, MSN, ACNS-BC, vice president of women’s services for Mercy Health - Youngstown, said Mercy Health is committed to being part of the network of breastfeeding support for mothers.

 

“We know that moms who want to breastfeed have greater success when they have a support system,” Klejka said. “The hospitals where they deliver their babies are part of their first line of support. Especially during Breastfeeding Awareness Month, we’re reinforcing the importance of a network of support – partners, family and friends, healthcare providers, employers and the community – as new moms take the first steps in their breastfeeding journeys.”

 

Support will be the central theme throughout Mercy Health’s Breastfeeding Awareness Month activities, which include:

 

Aug. 3: Breastfeeding program, led by St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital lactation consultants, 1 to 3 p.m.

DD & Velma Davis Family YMCA | 45 McClurg Road, Boardman

 

Aug. 4: “The Big Latch On” event with Trumbull County WIC and St. Joseph Warren Hospital lactation consultants, 10 a.m. 

Trumbull County WIC Office | 258 E. Market St., Warren

 

Through Aug. 8: Breastfeeding benefits and resources public display

Warren-Trumbull County Public Library | 444 Mahoning Ave., Warren

 

Aug. 16: Special Breastfeeding Moms Support Group, 2 p.m.

St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital Azalea Room |  8401 Market St., Boardman

 

Aug. 29 to Sept. 4: Breastfeeding education and support

In the Mercy Health - Youngstown booth at the Canfield Fair

 

Throughout August:  Breastfeeding education and support from certified lactation consultants

St. Elizabeth Boardman and St. Joseph Warren hospitals

 

Throughout August: Gifts for new moms to encourage and support breastfeeding

St. Elizabeth Boardman and St. Joseph Warren hospitals

 

Mercy Health - Youngstown provides lactation services, support and education through its two hospitals with maternity units – St. Elizabeth Boardman and St. Joseph Warren hospitals. The hospitals have ongoing partnerships with Women, Infants and Children (WIC) agencies in both Mahoning and Trumbull counties, and collaborate with them on a variety of programs, including those that provide education about and support for breastfeeding.