Katz Women’s Hospital in Manhasset has earned a "Baby-Friendly" designation for meeting national standards in breastfeeding support and mother-infant care.

The facility is now the sixth hospital on Long Island to receive Baby-Friendly designation, an accreditation that reflects a commitment to optimal care for breastfeeding and mother-infant bonding. Baby-Friendly USA, the national accrediting body, oversees the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative — a joint program of the World Health Organization and UNICEF, according to the group’s website.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 2021, 1 in 4 babies in the United States were born in a Baby-Friendly hospital. The agency notes that breastfeeding provides key benefits for both babies and mothers: breast milk delivers essential nutrition and antibodies, and can help protect infants from asthma, obesity, type 1 diabetes and sudden infant death syndrome. For mothers, breastfeeding can reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancers, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

"Breastfeeding is simply the most healthy way to feed a newborn infant," said Dr. Kevin Holcomb, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center. 

To earn the designation, hospitals must implement 10 steps to successful breastfeeding, including a written infant feeding policy that is communicated to staff and parents; allowing mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day; and educating parents on the use and risks of feeding bottles and artificial nipples.

Hospitals are monitored for five years after receiving the designation to ensure compliance with standards, according to Baby-Friendly USA.

Holcomb said the hospital worked for more than a year to meet the requirements. “As we pursued the designation, we focused on educating staff on the importance of each criterion,” he said.

Katz Women’s Hospital is the fifth Northwell Health hospital to earn the designation, joining Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore and Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, according to Holcomb.

Other Long Island hospitals with Baby-Friendly designation include Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip, Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside, and NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island in Mineola, according to Baby-Friendly USA.