The Lanzarote Health Area, attached to the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, in collaboration with the Martínez Hermanos Foundation, has launched five rooms for breastfeeding in the health centers of the island. "These are comfortable and convenient spaces to make it easier for mothers to breastfeed their babies in a quiet environment," they say from the Ministry.
The health centers of Titerroy, Valterra, Playa Blanca, Costa Teguise and San Bartolomé have had rooms dedicated to breastfeeding for a few days. Separated by a screen, these spaces have been conditioned near the Pediatrics consultations and have been equipped with new furniture such as breastfeeding chairs, auxiliary support tables, as well as lamps, decoration donated by the Martínez Hermanos Foundation.
"These spaces make it easier for mothers to breastfeed their babies or express milk during the waiting time at the health center, or within their working day, in the cases of center workers and promote a warm and serene environment with some privacy," says the Ministry.
The new lactation rooms represent an improvement in the care of mothers and their babies and contribute to the well-being of both. On the other hand, with the creation of these spaces, a further step is taken towards the accreditation of the health centers of Lanzarote in the strategy marked by the Initiative for the Humanization of Assistance to Birth and Breastfeeding (IHAN), of which they have passed the first phases.
Breastfeeding is considered one of the main public health measures, so scientific evidence supports its support with health policies, in that line the Management of the Lanzarote Health Services promotes and supports initiatives for its protection and promotion.
Six health centers in Lanzarote have already passed the first requirements for accreditation of the IHAN Program, an initiative promoted by WHO and UNICEF for the Humanization of Assistance to Birth and Breastfeeding. Likewise, the Doctor José Molina Orosa University Hospital has started the process to be recognized as a center committed to the humanization and improvement of its practices of care for breastfeeding and maternal and child health.
