ST. MARYS — Joint Township District Memorial Hospital has received a Maternity Care Best Practice Award for 2016 from the Ohio Hospital Association and Ohio Department of Health’s Ohio first Steps for Healthy Babies program.

The hospital is taking steps to promote its support of successful breastfeeding. The Ohio First Steps for Healthy Babies is a voluntary breastfeeding designation program through the Ohio Hospital Association and Ohio Department of Health that recognizes maternity centers in Ohio for taking steps to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding in their organizations. In partnership with the Ohio Breastfeeding Alliance and the Ohio Lactation Consultants Association, the Ohio First Steps program is recognizing facilities with the Maternity Care Best Practice Award for 2016. This recognition indicates a facility’s commitment to best practices by choosing to not distribute infant formula or formula company-sponsored sample packs.

In addition to this commitment, Joint Township District Memorial Hospital is providing hospital practices supportive of breastfeeding and the Ohio First Steps for Healthy Babies program.

“The support of Ohio First Steps for Healthy Babies prompts our care providers to have thoughtful conversations in the prenatal and hospital settings about the benefits of breastfeeding in order to educate patients and the community,” said Amy Becker, birthing center clinical coordinator at Joint Township District Memorial Hospital. “The support a new mother receives from hospital staff can impact her decision to breastfeed. Increasing the number of breastfed newborns can lead to a decrease in the likelihood for future health conditions for the child such as asthma, diabetes and obesity.”