Naval Hospital, Camp Pendleton -- Breastfeeding Room
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NAVAL HOSPITAL CAMP PENDLETON HONORED AS YEAR 2002
BREASTFEEDING-FRIENDLY WORKPLACE
The Seventh Annual Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace Award will be presented to Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton by the San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition on Friday, September 27, 2002 at 7:30 AM at the "Colors" Ceremony at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton.
Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton was recognized for its outstanding Lactation Program, which includes a Pumping Room complete with breast pumps, comfortable chairs, sink and refrigerator. A breastfeeding support group for staff, well-communicated breastfeeding policies, and access to a lactation consultant are just some of the benefits available to breastfeeding employees. The Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Honor is awarded annually as part of the World Breastfeeding Week celebration.
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated internationally every year from August 1 to 7 to generate public awareness and support for breastfeeding. Breastfeeding provides ideal nutrition for infants, lowers infant mortality, and reduces a mother's risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
As of January 2002, the State of California passed a law (AB 1025) to ensure working mothers have adequate time and an appropriate place to express breast milk during the workday. Breastfeeding friendly workplaces have been shown to decrease employee absenteeism by up to 57% due to the health benefits for both mother and baby, while enhancing employee productivity, loyalty, and morale.
The San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition is a non-profit association of health care professionals which promotes and supports breastfeeding through professional education and community outreach. For more information on breastfeeding, please see www.breastfeeding.org.
September 26, 2002
CONTACT: Meredith Kennedy
San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition
PHONE: (858) 966-5981
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BREASTFEEDING-FRIENDLY WORKPLACE AWARD 2002 NAVAL HOSPITAL - CAMP PENDLETON
Each year the world celebrates World Breastfeeding Week. This year's theme was "Breastfeeding: Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies."
Once thought to be "no longer worth the bother", breastfeeding has been rediscovered by modern science as a means to save lives, reduce illness, foster optimum development and protect the environment. Policy makers are increasingly recognizing that breastfeeding promotion efforts can reduce healthcare costs and enhance maternal and infant well-being.
Breastfeeding provides optimal nutrition, enzymes, growth and developmental hormones, and infection fighting factors to decrease risk for a large number of both acute and chronic diseases. Breastmilk and breastfeeding supply the optimal mixture of nutritional factors and growth hormones to enhance cognitive development. Breastfeeding promotes strong families by improving the health of the mother, promoting optimal child spacing, and establishing a close bond between mother and infant, fostering communication and emotional development.
Breastfeeding also provides significant economic benefits to the family (and the community) by reducing unnecessary expenditures for infant formula, reducing health care costs, reducing employee absenteeism to care for a sick child, and decreasing scarce resource use and waste. Breastfeeding cost effectiveness studies reveal that as little as three months of exclusive breastfeeding can save $200 - $400 per child in health care costs during the first year of life.
The San Diego Breastfeeding Coalition was founded to make healthcare professionals and the public more aware of the benefits of breastfeeding, and the risks of artificial feeding, and to help carry forward the art as well as the science of breastfeeding. As one of the major perceived obstacles to breastfeeding is working outside the home, we have paid special attention to the needs and challenges of these women.
We have tried to educate employers as to the documented benefits of breastfeeding to their bottom line: less employee turnover, less days lost from work to care for a sick child, less health care expenses, and increased employee productivity, loyalty and morale. When an employee returns from maternity leave, she wants to be productive .....and a good mother at the same time.
As part of the global campaign to generate public awareness and support for breastfeeding, each year the San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition recognizes an employer or workplace for it's contribution to the support of it's breastfeeding employees.
Past award winners have been:
This year it our privilege to present the Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Award to Naval Hospital, Camp Pendleton for their demonstrated support of their breastfeeding staff.
Back to the Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Awards"Low breastfeeding rates are a serious public health challenge, particularly in certain minority communities. With scientific evidence indicating that breastfeeding can play an important role in an infant's health, the time has come for us to work together to promote optimal breastfeeding practices."
1996 - Hewlett-Packard
1997 - US Naval Medical Center, San Diego
1998 - Sea World
1999 - Qualcomm and People's Organic Foods Market
2000 - Aetna US Healthcare
2001 - City of Escondido, Kyocera America, Inc. and the San Diego Spirit (women's soccer team)