Indian Health Service Baby-Friendly® Hospital Initiative Launched at Northern Navajo Medical Center


Indian Health Service (IHS) Director Yvette Roubideaux, M.D., M.P.H., announced today the official IHS launch of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative at the Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, NM.  This breastfeeding initiative is designed to create a healthy start on life and prevent childhood obesity.  It is part of the Let’s Move! in Indian Country (LMIC) initiative, which is part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative.  The LMIC brings together federal agencies, communities, nonprofits, corporate partners, and tribes with the goal of ending the epidemic of childhood obesity in Indian Country within a generation.

“Our goal for the IHS Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is to certify 14 federal IHS obstetric facilities as baby-friendly hospitals by 2012 and to encourage 12 tribal obstetric facilities to adopt this initiative,” said Dr. Roubideaux.  “This initiative is a quality improvement process to improve breastfeeding rates through new maternity care and infant feeding practices.  By promoting breastfeeding, the IHS will reduce current and future medical problems and decrease health care costs.”

A baby-friendly hospital is one that supports breastfeeding and offers breastfeeding mothers the information, confidence, and skills needed to start and continue breastfeeding their babies.  Breastfeeding is critical for both baby and mother as it supports infant growth and development, and it protects both the infant’s and the mother’s health.

“We are truly honored to host the launch of the IHS Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative," said Dr. Chris Percy, Director of Community Health Services at Northern Navajo Medical Center. “We have seen firsthand the benefits of breastfeeding in reducing the number of visits to our emergency room or acute care clinic for babies with diarrhea, ear infections, and pneumonia.”

“At the Northern Navajo Medical Center, we honor breastfeeding mothers and work closely with the Navajo Nation Breastfeeding Coalition to promote and support the wisdom of this traditional practice,” said Fannessa Comer, Northern Navajo Medical Center CEO.  “We are pleased to join in launching the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and to becoming baby-friendly certified.”

The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a series of maternity care practices that were created in 1991 by the United Nations Children’s Fund and World Health Organization as the gold standard for significantly increasing breastfeeding initiation and duration rates.  In the 20 years since the initiative started, more than 200,000 hospitals in 156 countries have joined the program.  The program offers ten steps to successful breastfeeding that enable facilities and communities to support women who breastfeed.  Hospitals that demonstrate adherence to these steps receive the designation of “baby friendly.”

Invited speakers at the Northern Navajo Medical Center launch event included Fannessa Comer; Navajo Nation Vice President Rex Lee Jim; Dr. Susan Karol, IHS Chief Medical Officer; representatives from the Navajo Nation Breastfeeding Coalition and Just Move It program; as well as local women and families who have shared their personal stories about breastfeeding.


Baby-Friendly® is a registered certification mark of UNICEF