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Baby Friendly Destination

St. Mary Medical Center is the Baby-Friendly designated hospital in Greater Long Beach.

Baby-Friendly® accolade recognizes care practices that promote the highest level of breastfeeding support and education in the first crucial months of a baby's life

Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center is designated a Baby-Friendly hospital and one of only 20 hospitals in Los Angeles County to earn this recognition by Baby-Friendly® USA, Inc.

Trish MacEnroe, Executive Director of Baby-Friendly® USA, noted that hospitals receive such a designation only after significant effort. “The criteria are challenging, as they are designed to set the standards for the best possible breastfeeding support for mother and infant in the maternity setting, insuring high quality of care in this critical area of mother/baby care,” said MacEnroe.

Maternity care is a key service at St. Mary Medical Center, where an average of 2,700 babies are born each year. The hospital worked toward Baby-Friendly status for five years, hiring lactation counselors and providing specialized education to more than 150 nurses in Maternal Child Services. Thanks to grants from the McBeth Foundation and First 5 LA, the hospital has been able to develop an excellent start for babies born at St. Mary.

Baby-Friendly® USA is the accrediting body for the nationwide Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, launched in 1991 by the World Health Organization and UNICEF to improve the role of maternity services to enable mothers to breastfeed their babies. 

Learn More About Having Your Baby At St. Mary Medical Center

For more information on our maternity services, please call (562) 491-9000. To find a physician, please call (562) 491-4895 or use our search tool to Find a Doctor