The Lanzarote Health Services Management has launched a Specialized Breastfeeding Support Service, which is located in the San Bartolomé Health Center since this Monday, July 28.
This new resource, equipped with expert personnel, aims to promote the initiation and maintenance of breastfeeding in mothers and infants who have difficulties, or need more attention, both at the beginning of breastfeeding and during the course of it, as well as in complex clinical cases that require specialized monitoring, in order to avoid early abandonment of breastfeeding.
The service is led by Ana Isabel Roldán, a medical specialist in Family and Community Medicine and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant IBCLC, and by Estefanía Mota Pallarés, a Primary Care midwife also certified as IBCLC.
Expert care
The Breastfeeding Care Service will be available on Mondays, Tuesdays and alternate Fridays, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and will work in coordination with the Primary and Hospital Care teams to offer a comprehensive response to the needs of mothers and infants. The team will also have the occasional collaboration of other specialized professionals such as physiotherapists and speech therapists with training in breastfeeding and orofacial dysfunctions for those cases that are necessary.
This new service is created to respond to specific and complex clinical situations such as difficulties in establishing breastfeeding from birth, the need to maintain milk production in mothers with hospitalized babies, acute problems such as mastitis and engorgement. At the same time, it is planned to provide help and advice on breastfeeding in the context of surgical interventions or medical treatments and to provide individualized monitoring for low infant weight or sucking difficulties.
Referral is made from the different care services of Primary and Hospital Care, through an interconsultation to the service, in order to guarantee the continuity of care with the reference professionals.
Training and research
In addition to the care activity, the new service will have a teaching and training function for health professionals in the Lanzarote Health Area with the aim of improving skills in supporting breastfeeding. On the other hand, it is expected to develop programs that support breastfeeding and promote research and evaluation of results activities, collecting key indicators for monitoring and continuous improvement of the program.
Commitment to the iHAN
The medical director of Primary Care, María Eugenia Perdomo, considers that the implementation of this service is a fundamental boost to advance in the accreditation objectives of the iHAN strategy (Initiative for the Humanization of Birth and Breastfeeding), in which the staff of the health centers and the Molina Orosa Hospital are immersed.
With this initiative, the Lanzarote Health Services Management reinforces its commitment to promoting breastfeeding as a public health priority, thus contributing to improving the health of mothers and children and guaranteeing quality perinatal care, based on scientific evidence.
Breastfeeding is the physiological norm for newborns and guarantees optimal nutrition and immunological protection. For this reason, the World Health Organization and various scientific societies recommend exclusive natural breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and continuing with it, adding other foods, at least until two years of age, or until the mother and child so wish, to achieve adequate growth and development as well as good health.
