Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest integrated health care system caring for mothers and babies, announced today its commitment to support breastfeeding as a measure of hospital quality and a key strategy in preventing childhood obesity. By 2013, its 29 hospitals that offer maternal and child health services will be designated as Baby-Friendly, and/or participate in The Joint Commission’s Perinatal Core Measures program, which includes a measure of exclusive breastfeeding at discharge.
The announcement came at the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) inaugural summit in Washington, DC. PHA is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization led by some of the nation’s most respected health and childhood obesity experts. It was created in 2010 in conjunction with — but independent from — First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! effort to bring together public, private and nonprofit leaders to broker meaningful commitments and develop strategies to end childhood obesity.
In January, The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding called on health care providers to ensure that maternity care practices are fully supportive of breastfeeding; Kaiser Permanente has answered that call. USBC applauds the leadership and commitment of Kaiser Permanente to the health and well-being of the mothers and babies it serves.
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