The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have announced that the Family Medicine Unit (UMF) No. 58 of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) in Yucatan received international recognition as a “Child-Friendly Unit”.
This recognition was given to this public hospital on the grounds that it has promoted, strengthened and protected breastfeeding for the benefit of children in the state of Yucatan.
IMSS Yucatan Delegation
The IMSS delegate in Yucatan, Alonso Juan Sansores Rio, explained that for this achievement the UMF No. 58 created an effective accreditation program and more than 270 workers, including family doctors, nursing staff, social workers received and shared information on the importance of breastfeeding.
“Awareness was raised to support and teach mothers the correct techniques for breastfeeding their children, with the aim of being able to provide them with breast milk from the very first moment,” he said.
He emphasized that having this international accreditation raises the quality of the service provided at the hospital and obliges them to strengthen this project for the benefit of the beneficiary population.
“Definitely, this nomination is the result of the work of each one of the categories that work in this Unit, before this achievement we continue working for the benefit of health and strengthening this process,” he said.
The staff of Unit No. 58 is directed by Dr. Laura Cocom Colín, who stressed the importance of emphasizing that from their first days of life, newborns should be exclusively breastfed.
“Breastfeeding provides them with the nutrients, as well as the necessary and required defenses to achieve a better development and prevent multiple ailments” Alonso Juan Sansores Rio continued.
The expert added that, in the case of mothers, breastfeeding provides them with the benefit of reducing the risk of postpartum depression and hemorrhages after childbirth, in addition to the fact that they recover their weight more easily; it helps to recover the normal size of the uterus and reinforces the emotional bond between mother and child.
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