Hospitals and other health care entities are eligible for the award if they hire currently certified International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants and have a dedicated lactation support program. They also have to show a higher standard of excellence, providing training for their nursing, medical, and other staff who care for breastfeeding families, and must demonstrate they have implemented special projects that promote, protect, and support breastfeeding and the lactation consultant profession.

The TMC Lactation Services team is the only one to earn the recognition in Southern Arizona, and opened an outpatient clinic in 2015 to provide one-on-one assistance for breastfeeding needs and challenges.

The clinic provides lactation consults to patients regardless of ability to pay or lack of insurance coverage. The team also launched a program to promote breastfeeding in the Mother-Baby unit for newborns by providing human donor milk, increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates from 33 percent in April 2018 to 50 percent by the end of the calendar year.

“We are honored to achieve this recognition in support of the work we do to support nursing mothers and healthy families,” said Damiana Cohen, manager of the Mother-Baby Unit. “We know breastfeeding improves infant health. It makes a big difference when health care professionals not only understand the benefits, but have the expertise to support families through their clinical practice.”

Roberto Issler, chair of the International Board, said, “Agencies that are awarded this recognition have dedicated their efforts to promote and provide a lactation program that makes expert assistance available when the breastfeeding family needs it. This is achieved through encouraging and informing breastfeeding families about the benefits and management of breastfeeding as well as training health care professionals to assist families in achieving their goals.”

 To see a list of facilities that earned the award, please visit the IBCLC Care Award Directory.