Congratulations to Abbeville General Hospital, which was awarded The Gift Shining Star initial designation and Jennings American Legion Hospital, which was awarded The Gift initial designation.

Abbeville General Hospital is located 60 miles southwest of Baton Rouge and delivers approximately 200 babies per year. Lydia Bobo, RNC-OB, Labor & Delivery/Nursery Manager shared some insights, “Historically, new mothers in our community are reluctant to breastfeed their children. This could be because of a variety of factors including working mothers, peer pressure, and a lack of information on the benefits of breastfeeding to both the mother and baby. The Gift program has given our staff the tools needed to educate the mothers as to the health benefits of breastfeeding and removes the stigma which some may feel towards breastfeeding. The ultimate impact on our patients is that they will be better informed, which will lead to healthier mothers and children.”

“Our staff is very good at taking care of the medical needs of our patients. However, The Gift has led to a holistic approach to caring for the mothers and children. We must realize that we not only provide medical care, but also provide education and support to insure that our patients are following best practices to allow them the opportunity for long term health.” Please visit the Abbeville General Hospital website to learn more.

Jennings American Legion Hospital is located 40 miles west of Lafayette and delivers approximately 400 babies per year. Using quality improvement science, the hospital’s breastfeeding task force was able to implement The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding as standard practice. By testing small changes in process, they were able to make major shifts in quality of care. Using Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycles, Jennings tested changes to routine processes, such as changing the location of the infant bath and assessment. These tests helped inform changes to standard practices and ultimately allowed moms and infants to room in together throughout the hospital stay.

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