Cebu City- In line with the Republic Act 10028, otherwise known as the Expanded Promotion of Breastfeeding Act, the Department of Health Central Visayas Center for Health and Development together with the DOH accredited hospital the St. Anthony Mother and Child Hospital (SAMCH) conducted a Lactation Management Education Training (LMET) on 23-25 May 2022.
The training was held at Cebu Parklane International Hotel, Escario St., Cebu City with 35 participants coming from different hospitals in Cebu (Bantayan District Hospital, Cebu Provincial Hospital Danao, Isidro Kintanar Memorial Hospital, Barili District Hospital, The AMOSUP Seaman’s Hospital Cebu, Carajay District Hospital, The Hospital at Maayo, Mandaue City Hospital, Toledo City General Hospital, Ace Medical Center Cebu, Cebu City Medical Center), Negros Oriental (Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital, Bais District Hospital, Cong. Lamberto L. Macias Hospital, Bayawan District Hospital) and some employees of DOH CVCHD.
The aim of this course is to strengthen the capacity of health workers to protect, promote and support breastfeeding in their everyday practice and to transform the health facility into mother baby friendly institutions through implementation of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. LMET is also one of the pillars in achieving a Mother-Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (MBFHI) Accreditation.
The first day covered the 15 sessions of the LMET module. On the second day the participants visited St. Anthony Mother and Child Hospital for a practicum where they counseled pregnant women, observed how a mother breastfed her baby, and interviewed mothers about their breastfeeding history. They also witnessed how the mother expressed her breastmilk and how the baby was fed using cup feeding. The third and last day tackled another 15 sessions that also deepened their practicum knowledge.
It was a great experience for the participants to witness the good practices of SAMCH in implementing the Ten Steps of Successful Breastfeeding and operationalize the theories presented during the didactic phase of the training.
The three days training ended with eagerness of the participants to share to other stakeholders on what they have learned and apply the Ten Steps of Successful Breastfeeding to their health facility not just to achieve the Mother-Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (MBFHI) Accreditation but to support the mothers to succeed with early and exclusive breastfeeding. // ND II Sarah Belle I. Antiola, RND
