The Stepping Up for Utah Babies program was developed to work with local hospitals to support breastfeeding in their facilities.  It is based on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, which were developed by a team of global experts and consist of evidence-based practices that have been shown to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration.

  1. Have a written breastfeeding policy.
  2. Train all their staff to support all new moms feeding choices.
  3. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits of breastfeeding.
  4. Encourage all new moms to hold their new baby skin-to-skin right after delivery.
  5. Show moms how to and maintain breastfeeding, even if they are separated from their infants.
  6. Give infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically needed. 
  7.  Allow moms and babies to remain together 24 hours a day. 
  8. Encourage breastfeeding on-demand. 
  9. While in the hospital, staff will not give pacifiers to breastfeeding infants.
  10. Hospitals give all new families a list of breastfeeding community resources when they leave the hospital.

The “Stepping Up” program allows hospitals to work on 2 steps at a time with the goal of completing all 10 steps.
As an expectant mother who intends to breastfeed, you may want to consider delivering your baby at a “breastfeeding friendly” facility.  You can find a list of current hospitals at the Stepping Up for Utah Babies website.