Clinical program

Breastfeeding clinic

With an average of 4,000 annual visits to our seven day a week breastfeeding clinic, the DAN Women & Babies Program at Sunnybrook houses the largest breastfeeding clinic in the country. The clinic operates with a unique model of care for inpatient and outpatient consultation that encompasses the entire antepartum to postpartum period. Our lactation consultants work individually with each family to develop a plan of care, while more complex cases are referred to the nurse practitioner or physician.

Breastfeeding class

While in the hospital, mothers and babies are invited to attend a breastfeeding class, held once every morning. All new mothers are encouraged to attend each day while in the hospital. The class covers a variety of areas including: what to expect when breastfeeding a newborn, how to get breastfeeding off to a good start, understanding your baby’s cues, and where to get help. Mothers who have difficulties beyond the initial challenges of establishing breastfeeding are usually referred to the clinic before being discharged from the hospital.

Breastfeeding counseling

We also provide outpatient breastfeeding counseling, education and care plans to all women who deliver their babies at Sunnybrook. Support includes daily breastfeeding classes taught by nurses and International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs), a 24-hour telephone helpline, a seven-day-a-week appointment schedule and a hospital grade pump rental service.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

We are one of three high-risk regional neonatal nurseries serving the Central East Region of Ontario. We provide integrated family-centred care for infants requiring Level III or Level II neonatal care. In the NICU, breastmilk represents more than just food. It is medicine that protects the newborn from infection, reduces the severity of illness if they should become sick, and promotes healing, growth and development within the newborn that will last a lifetime. In fact, at Sunnybrook, we value breastmilk so much that we also have adopted a donor milk program that can be used to bridge the mother’s supply until she is producing enough.

Mothers of babies in the NICU are encouraged to begin hand expressing breastmilk as soon as possible after her your baby is born, ideally within an hour. After a few sessions of hand expressing, mothers will be shown how to use a breast pump. There are several breast pumps available in the unit for mothers to use. While the baby is in the NICU, all mothers will be given a breast pump to use at home free of charge. After discharge or transfer mothers can continue to rent a pump for home use through our Breastfeeding Clinic. The NICU will also give mothers kits that they can use with their pump. These kits can be cleaned in our special dishwasher in the unit pump room, or can be cleaned at home. A breastfeeding resource nurse is readily available to provide instructions on how to clean your kits.

• Nurse practitioner adult and neonatal consults to the clinic
• Neonatology, physiotherapy and dietitian consults for clinic patients
• Antenatal consults for women with risk factors that may affect breastfeeding exclusivity and duration
• Skin-to-skin initiative
• Early hand expression
• Breastfeeding support in the NICU, provided by registered nurses, seven days a week
• Focus on hands-off, laid-back positioning and latching
• Clinic visits on day of discharge for families with risk factors
• Support and education for breastfeeding women hospitalized in other areas of Sunnybrook
• Active pursuit of breastfeeding designation
• Use of age-appropriate volumes for supplementation
• Introduction of 1mL spoons used in feeding expressed breast milk to newborns