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Our Baby-Friendly Promise

Learn about our commitment to infant feeding support.
Pregnancy, birth and newborn care menu
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Sinai Health respects and supports all families in their infant feeding decisions. We encourage families to breastfeed, chestfeed or provide human milk to their babies unless medically contraindicated.

We promise our families that we will:

A woman sits in a hospital bed and kisses her newborn baby
  • Provide education and support to individualize your infant feeding decisions
  • Help you to hold your baby skin-to-skin as soon as possible after birth with the goal of uninterrupted skin-to-skin for at least one hour
  • Follow evidence-based infant feeding policies and provide information on
    different ways to feed your baby if requested or required 
  • Help you and your baby learn to breastfeed or chestfeed if you choose to do so as early as possible after birth (ideally within one to six hours)
  • Encourage you to follow your baby’s cues and feed whenever your baby wants
  • Support you to build and maintain your milk supply with regular feedings and
    hand expression
  • Ensure your baby stays with you unless you or your baby requires extra
    medical support
  • Prioritize human milk for your baby; human milk substitutes/infant formula will
    only be given with your consent when medically indicated
  • Provide you with a list of community resources prior to discharge from hospital to ensure you have infant feeding support at home with the goal of continuing breastfeeding/chestfeeding
  • Ensure our staff is educated on how to assist you with all methods of infant
    feeding and hand expression

Our Baby-Friendly Promise for NICU Families 

Sinai Health respects and supports all families in their infant feeding decisions. We encourage families to breastfeed, chestfeed or provide human milk to their babies unless medically contraindicated.

We promise our families that we will:

The feet of a baby within the Mount Sinai neonatal intensive care unit
  • Provide education and support to individualize your infant feeding decisions
  • Help you to hold your baby skin-to-skin as soon as possible after birth with the
    goal of uninterrupted skin-to-skin for at least one hour
  • Follow evidence-based infant feeding policies and provide information on
    different ways to feed your baby if requested or required
  • Help you and your baby learn to breastfeed or chestfeed if you choose to do so
    as early as possible after birth (ideally within one to six hours)
  • Encourage you to follow your baby’s cues and feed whenever your baby wants
  • Support you to build and maintain your milk supply with regular feedings and
    hand expression
  • Ensure your baby stays with you unless you or your baby requires extra
    medical support
  • Prioritize human milk for your baby; human milk substitutes/infant formula will
    only be given with your consent when medically indicated
  • Provide you with a list of community resources prior to discharge from hospital
    to ensure you have infant feeding support at home with the goal of continuing
    breastfeeding/chestfeeding
  • Ensure our staff is educated on how to assist you with all methods of infant
    feeding and hand expression