Thompson Health | Partners | Summer 2016

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Thompson
delivers
Board-certified lactation consultant Courtney Phillips, RN, chats with Shirley Figuera de
Cole of Canandaigua after the delivery of Lorenzo Enrique Cole in February. Phillips, a
second lactation consultant and six certified lactation counselors promote breastfeeding in
Thompson Hospital’s Birthing Center, where nearly 650 babies were born in 2015.
WOMEN’S HEALTH
EXPECTING A BABY?
Soon-to-be new parents can subscribe to Thompson Health’s free
My Baby Expectations™, a monthly emailed newsletter that steps
you through preparation, delivery and baby’s first year.
Based on the due date, you will receive information on what
to look forward to that month. Additionally, you will receive four
months of information on breastfeeding, a parenting newsletter
after the baby turns 1 and annual health reminders for your child.
Visit to sign up.
WHEN SHIRLEY FIGUERA DE COLE
and her husband, Jeremy Cole, wel-
comed a third son in February, it marked
the couple’s third experience in Thomp-
son Hospital’s Birthing Center, where,
Figuera de Cole says, “all the nurses have
become like family.”
Every request was cheerfully accommo-
dated, says Figuera de Cole, and she felt
well-supported throughout her stay.
“It was awesome,” the Canandaigua
resident says. “The nurses, the techs, the
doctor, the housekeeper—everyone was
amazing.”
Based on her family’s experience
with the births of Lorenzo and his two
elder brothers, it came as no surprise to
Figuera de Cole to learn that recently
Thompson was one of only three centers
in the region to receive a national honor
for delivering quality maternity care while
meeting the requirements for cost-
efficiency.
The Blue Distinction Center+ for
Maternity Care designation from Excel-
lus BlueCross BlueShield came after
the Center was evaluated on several
quality measures and found to support
evidence-based practice of care as well as
promotion of successful breastfeeding.
Thompson’s breastfeeding rate is con-
sistently above 80 percent, and Director
of Obstetrics Deborah Jones says there
are several reasons for this high figure:
• Thompson offers prenatal classes that
introduce soon-to-be moms to the
health benefits of breastfeeding, which
include lowering the risk of postpar-
tum depression and certain cancers for
moms and lowering the risks of infec-
tion and childhood obesity for babies.
• The Birthing Center has two board-
certified lactation consultants and six
certified lactation counselors available
to new moms, both while they’re in the
hospital and after they’ve gone home.
• The lactation consultant and another
Birthing Center nurse facilitate a
monthly support/educational gathering
for new moms, called the First Time
Around Group.
According to Jones, a big influence
on the high breastfeeding rate is the
support from the doctors and certified
nurse-midwives who deliver babies at
Thompson, because long before the
6 | SUMMER 2016