Breastfeeding

The brochure below contains plenty of tips on breastfeeding. You will also find info about latching on, good posture while feeding and hunger signals from your baby.

The 'Baby-Friendly Hospital' quality certificate is part of a federal project that recognises hospitals committed to promoting and supporting breastfeeding. Hospitals are urged to provide parents with information and quality support, to foster the bond between mother and child and to protect and support breastfeeding.

This BFHI (Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative) label guarantees high-quality care, support and guidance for mother and baby from pregnancy to discharge. St Vincent General Hospital in Deinze received the label in 2016 and 2019. To earn the title, a hospital must meet many conditions:

• write a breastfeeding policy
• list rules of thumb
• organise information sessions around breastfeeding.

The breastfeeding committee at St Vincent General Hospital in Deinze makes every effort to promote, support, motivate and protect breastfeeding. Using some rules of thumb from the World Health Organisation and Unicef, St Vincent General Hospital in Deinze promotes successful breastfeeding.

10 rules of thumb for breastfeeding

1. We have a written breastfeeding policy.
2. We support mothers during breastfeeding.
3. All staff have been trained.
4. All pregnant women are guided in their nutritional choice and that choice is respected by us.
5. We attach great importance to skin-to-skin contact between mother and child.
6. We do not provide supplementary feeding without medical indication.
7. Rooming-in: baby stays as close to mum as possible and partners can also stay overnight in hospital.
8. Each baby is fed on demand, meaning we do not use fixed times but listen to the baby's language.
9. We do not promote soothers.
10. On discharge from hospital, parents are referred to appropriate contact persons for further support at every level.

Mum's milk is golden

Our maternity unit has been committed to breastfeeding promotion and support for years. A prenatal (during pregnancy) and postnatal (after delivery) lactation consultation are new in our range of services. You can contact our trained lactation consultants with all your questions on breastfeeding. With their knowledge and experience, they can also give you lots of tips & suggestions to make the breastfeeding period a success.

Make an appointment for a lactation consultation through maternity.