WRNMMC, Bethesda, Md.   –   Air Force Capt. (Dr.) Taylor Meyers, a pediatric resident at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, is expecting her first child in September. Because she intends to breastfeed her child, Meyers attended the LATCH event at the medical center on Aug. 23.

The Mother Infant Care Center (MICC) at Walter Reed hosts the annual LATCH event during August, National Breastfeeding Month, to provide community education and awareness regarding the importance and benefits of breastfeeding, explained Monica Brannon, a nurse and lactation consultant at Walter Reed. “The aim of the event is to promote, protect and support breastfeeding families by raising awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding, which is the biological norm for all mammals, including humans,” she added.

“Breastfeeding, aside from amazingly, beautiful hard work, provides immune benefits for babies, protecting them from everything their mothers have been exposed to in terms of illnesses and viruses,” Brannon continued. She added babies who are breastfed have less upper respiratory infections, less diarrheal disease, and breastfeeding decreases their risk for diabetes and childhood obesity.

For mothers, breastfeeding decreases their risk for developing type 2 diabetes, provides cardiovascular benefits, reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and it helps stabilize blood pressure, Brannon shared.
“Breastfeeding also provides an indescribable beautiful bond between the mother and child,” Brannon said.

Currently on her lactation rotation as part of her pediatric residency, Meyers explained she looks forward to breastfeeding her baby because of the health benefits for mother and child. “Breastfed babies have a lower risk of asthma, obesity, type 1 diabetes, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Breastfed babies are also less likely to have ear infections and stomach bugs. Breast milk shares antibodies from the mother with her baby,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Meyers, who earned her medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), explained the lactation rotation at Walter Reed allows pediatric residents the opportunity to work with the lactation consultant for two to four weeks to learn more about breastfeeding and how they can support and help mothers with it.

Army Sgt. Shanique Wright also attended the LATCH event at Walter Reed. She currently breast feeds her daughter, as she did with her older daughter, who took the time to enjoy the festivities at the LATCH event. “My daughter loves to breastfeed, but I also know the breastmilk is better for her growth,” Wright shared.

Army Capt. Kiara Reed-Lee brought her 1-week-old son, Dakari, to the event. “I breastfed my toddler, and it was very nice to have a group that also did the same thing and someone to talk to about if I had challenges,” she said of one of the reasons she attended the recent LATCH event at Walter Reed. She added another benefit she found in breastfeeding her daughter, who’s now 20 months, was the convenience of not having to go and search for formula when her daughter wanted to feed.

“I have an older breast feeder, 18 months,” said Jennifer Vazquez Robles of her son, Dario. A clinical nurse at Walter Reed, Vasquez Robles shared that current recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization (WHO), is exclusive breastfeeding for about the first 6 months, with continued breastfeeding along with introducing appropriate complementary foods for up to 2 years of age or longer.

Vasquez Robles said Dario is “very healthy,” which she contributes to breastfeeding. “He doesn’t get sick often, and when he does, it’s something that’s very quick. It’s also good for bonding,” she said of breastfeeding.

Brannon explained Walter Reed encourages breastfeeding first, for the health of children and mothers, but it also plays a role in the hospital’s designation as a baby-friendly facility. “We’re one of only three military facilities to have baby-friendly designation, and currently, there are only 602 hospitals in the country that have the designation. We’re in the process of redesignating,” she added.

Walter Reed first earned baby-friendly designation in 2017 thanks primarily to the efforts of the MICC team. WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), through Baby-Friendly USA, administer the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) to improve the quality of life for mothers and babies, as well as enhance health-care outcomes.

To earn the baby-friendly designation, Walter Reed had to successfully implement and execute the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. These steps include: having written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health-care staff; training all health-care staff in skills necessary to implement the policy; informing all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding; helping mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth; showing mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation; giving infants no food or drink other than breast-milk, unless medically indicated; practicing rooming in (allowing mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day); encouraging breastfeeding on demand; giving no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants; and fostering the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and referring mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or birth center.

Currently, there are only three military treatment facilities (MTF) in the country that have earned the Baby-Friendly Hospital designation -- Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center (Fort Belvoir, Virginia), Naval Hospital Jacksonville (Florida), and Walter Reed.

“Every newborn has three key demands -- the demand for love, the demand for food, and the demand for security. Breastfeeding cuts across all three of them,” stated Walter Reed Chief of Staff Navy Capt. (Dr.) Kelly Elmore, an obstetrician/gynecologist. “That’s why we will continue to use every opportunity to support breastfeeding within and outside the workplace.”