Breastfeeding

At Adventist Health Simi Valley, we are committed to supporting and encouraging breastfeeding — so much so that we have earned the prestigious Baby-Friendly Hospital designation from Baby-Friendly USA.

Through the collaboration of our physicians, nurses and the rest of our healthcare team, we educate new moms in the skills and confidence they need to successfully breastfeed their babies.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund — also known as UNICEF — developed The Baby-Friendly Hospital initiative in the 1990s to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates. Exclusive breastfeeding (in other words, feeding babies with breast milk only) helps prevent childhood and lifelong illnesses such as sudden infant death syndrome, asthma, allergies, respiratory infections, ear infection, cancer, diabetes and more.

Breastfeeding offers health benefits for moms too. These benefits include a reduction in the risk for ovarian and breast cancers and heart disease.

Breastfeeding education and support

Right from the beginning, our experts are there to help as your baby makes their first attempts at breastfeeding. The training and support continue after you move to a postpartum room, where a lactation consultant will help to ensure the breastfeeding process goes well and you and your baby feel confident with breastfeeding. We’ll spend time with you to troubleshoot any issues you and/or your baby may encounter.

To further support and encourage breastfeeding success, we offer a breastfeeding class.

Learn more about the benefits of breastfeeding

There are also other excellent resources online about breastfeeding, but be sure to stick with recognized professional organizations when doing internet research. The American Academy of Family Physicians has a large amount of information and resources regarding breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists are also great sites to visit to learn more about breastfeeding.