BAGUIO CITY – Some twenty-seven health facilities in the region are now being subjected to the rigid accreditation process for recognition as mother-baby-friendly health facilities, after initially complying with the prescribed standards of the health department, a senior health official said here.
Dra. Virginia Narciso, head of the Cordillera office of the Department of Health (DOH-CAR) child and adolescent cluster, said there are already four health facilities in the region that had been accredited as mother-baby-friendly health facilities, while 12 other health facilities have accreditation on process with the central office since the first semester of this year.
She revealed the DOH central office required the regional offices to have 50 percent of the existing health facilities in their respective jurisdiction be accredited as mother-baby-friendly health facilities in order to comply with standards of health establishments.
“Our health facilities must be able to comply with the prescribed ten steps of breastfeeding, which is one of the major criteria for health facilities to be given the appropriate accreditation, that are subject to assessment and evaluation by regional assessors before being submitted for another round of assessment by duly recognized assessors from the DOH central office,” Narciso stressed.
The DOH-CAR official revealed there are 54 health facilities regionwide which are to be subjected to accreditation, and in order to meet the minimum standard of 50 percent accreditation, another 12 health facilities will have be submitted for accreditation to their central office by the year ends.
Narciso pointed out that administrators and personnel of health facilities must go back to the basics of the traditional practice of mother-baby health care by being able to empower birthing women to have their children exclusively breastfed for the crucial growth period of the first six months up to more than two years to guarantee the good health.
Aside from being able to advocate for exclusive breastfeeding of babies for this crucial growth period, Narciso disclosed the health facilities must be able to teach breastfeeding mothers with proper lactation management and the establishment of lactation stations for the use of the mothers who want their children to be breastfed.
She called on administrators of the different health facilities in the region to already prepare the requirements for accreditation of their hospitals or centers as mother-baby-friendly facilities to allow inspection by the regional assessment team before the submission of their applications to the DOH central office for re-validation and the eventual issuance of the accreditation.
By Dexter A. See
