Exceptional care for mums and babies

Babies are born everyday across our hospitals, including Christmas day. Mothers and their babies receive the very best care informed by research, delivered by our doctors, midwives and nurses.

30 Oct 2017

St John of God Foundation raises money to support the communities St John of God Health Care serves including helping to fund a number of ongoing research projects that aid our maternity teams in offering professional care and guidance in areas such as breastfeeding and lactation, during your hospital stay and once you return home with your new baby.

Finding out why mothers stop breastfeeding after leaving hospital is the focus of a new research project that St John of God Foundation is seeking donors to support.

St John of God Murdoch Hospital’s Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Research is hoping to find out why breastfeeding rates drop significantly once women leave hospital so it can better prepare women and their partners for breastfeeding success.

Breastfeeding has many positive effects for babies and mothers in the short and long term.

It can help babies get the best start in life and can provide all their nutritional needs for the first six months, as well as protect against chronic diseases later in life. Some research also suggests that breastfeeding may provide protection against childhood leukaemia.

In mothers, exclusive breastfeeding can help weight loss, prevent postnatal haemorrhage and pregnancy and places them at reduced risk for breast and ovarian cancer, as well as type 2 diabetes.

St John of God Murdoch Hospital’s Chair of Nursing Professor Leanne Monterosso said the ultimate aim was to meet targets set by the National Health & Medical Research Council, which recommends a breastfeeding initiation rate of 90 per cent, and 80 per cent at six months.

“Information will be used to assess our educational effectiveness and drive further education for our midwives and parents, with the aim of boosting breastfeeding success rates for a number of reasons, including long-term health outcomes, bonding, convenience and cost effectiveness," she said.

St John of God Health Care hospitals welcome more than 10,000 babies every year enabling us to contribute significant research in this field to deliver exceptional care for new mums and their babies. You can help this Christmas by donating too.