PRMC Achieves Redesignation as Texas Ten Step Facility

Paris Regional Medical Center Women’s and Children’s Hospital has officially announced re-designation as a Texas Ten Step Facility by Texas Health and Human Services. This prestigious award was first achieved by the hospital in 2016 and signifies the detailed work PRMC Women’s and Children’s Hospital Team Members have placed on the importance of encouraging breastfeeding as the preferred feeding method for newborns and infants.

The Texas Ten Step program aims to assist birth facility’s support of breastfeeding mothers before, during, and after delivery; encourages them to identify breastfeeding resources for the mother after she is discharged; and assists facilities in improving on national performance measures, which impacts the overall health of moms and their newborns. To be named a Texas Ten Step Facility a hospital must abide to strict standards of newborn care and education to new mothers. The goal of the Texas Ten Step Program is to have 82 percent of infants exclusively breastfeeding when discharged.

According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, babies who breastfeed have a lower risk of gastroenteritis, respiratory infections, sudden infant death syndrome, obesity, type 1 and 2 diabetes, allergies, asthma and lactose intolerance. Mothers also benefit from breastfeeding. The longer mothers breastfeed, the greater their protection against breast and ovarian cancer and hip fractures later in life. Recent evidence has also demonstrated an association between prolonged breastfeeding and postmenopausal risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s Breastfeeding Class initiative works to increase awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding.

After delivery, new mothers are transferred to the hospital’s Mother-Baby Unit for couplet care, which allows mothers and newborns to remain together throughout their stay. The unit features private rooms, a highly sophisticated security monitoring system, and experienced nursing staff. In addition the Women’s and Children’s Hospital has recently undergone renovation providing patient rooms with individual air temperature control and aesthetic upgrades.