Air Force Active Duty Mothers Paper

Air Force active duty mothers along with military families are faced with an array of demands unlike their civilian counterparts. There are the 6 month to 1 year deployments, meeting physical fitness standards within 1 year postpartum, and balancing the demands of an active duty lifestyle and family needs.19By establishing the “gold standard” at Air Force military treatment facilities, active duty women can return from their post-partum convalescent leave with confidence in the ability to feed their newborns having established a solid foundation in the hospital setting. Air Force active duty mothers will have the ability to get back into shape faster and their babies will spend less time being admitted for infections and sickness, ultimately
The guidelines implemented represent the standard of care that Baby Friendly hospitals should aspire to achieve for all patients. 23 The evaluation and criteria represent the minimum standard that a hospital must attain to achieve the Baby Friendly designation. 24

The Baby-Friendly Model Logic is provided by Baby-Friendly USA as an algorithm for facilities to use as a guide to start the Baby-Friendly Designation process. The Discovery phase inputs data as shown above, Development Phase utilizes facility administration, Pediatricians, Obstetricians and many other ancillary services such as Anesthesia, Pharmacy, and the Nutrition Department, in which all impact patient care on the maternity unit. 28

Below Appendix C represents the steps and tools utilized in the 4-D pathway. The Baby Friendly organization has developed a 4-D Pathway that is utilized to initiate and begin
The assessment process does not begin until the facility completes implementation of the Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria and a readiness telephone interview is completed by Baby-Friendly USA. Once the facility is ready for assessment, the facility will then invite the Baby-Friendly USA team for onsite assessment and evaluation.34 The evaluation process consists of a survey on site team, observations and document reviews. Baby-Friendly designation is confirmed when the External Review Board reviews the survey data and confirms that the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes have been appropriately implemented.