Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative
The California Breastfeeding Coalition is committed to helping all 251 birthing hospitals and birth centers in California to achieve Baby-Friendly designation by 2025. Currently, California leads the nation with 95 designated Baby-Friendly hospitals (scroll down to see the list). A key objective in Healthy People 2020 is to increase the proportion of live births that occur in facilities that provide recommended care for lactating mother and their babies. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is an internationally model of this recommended care.
What is Baby-Friendly?
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and implemented in the United States by Baby-Friendly USA, Inc. (BFUSA). The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative recognizes and awards birthing facilities which successfully implement the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. The BFHI assists hospitals in giving all mothers the information, confidence, and skills necessary to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies or feeding formula safely, and gives special recognition to hospitals that have done so.
Why do we promote Baby-Friendly?
Hospitals play a critical role in a mother’s success in breastfeeding initiation and in helping mothers continue to breastfeed after leaving their facilities. The BFHI focus is to make sure evidence-based maternity policies and practices are in place to support mothers who breastfeed their babies. Data shows that when the BFHI is implemented, exclusive breastfeeding rates increase overall, regardless of a mother’s race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
The BFHI is a key strategy to meet the Healthy People 2020 Objectives for Maternal, Infant, and Child Healthrelated to breastfeeding, including those in the following chart.
In addition, the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding (2011) includes a call to improve maternity care practices. The Specifications Manual for Joint Commission National Quality Core Measures also includes an “Exclusive Breast Milk Feeding” Performance Measure.
California leads the nation with 95 hospitals and birth centers achieving the prestigious Baby-Friendly Hospital designation. We are proud to recognize these outstanding health care facilities for their commitment to world class maternity care.
View California Baby-Friendly Birth Facilities in a larger map
California’s Baby-Friendly Hospitals:
- Adventist Health Lodi Memorial, Lodi, (10/14) Re-Designated 2019-2024
- Adventist Health Simi Valley, Simi Valley, March 2016
- Adventist Health White Memorial, Los Angeles, April 2015
- Adventist Medical Center – Hanford, Hanford, December 2019
- Alameda Health System-Highland Hospital, Oakland, (02/12) Re-Designated 2017-2022
- Antelope Valley Hospital, Lancaster, April 2015
- Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Colton, (2009) Re-Designated 2014-2019
- Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, Bakersfield, May 2016
- Barstow Community Hospital, Barstow, (2007) Re-Designated 2018-2023
- Beverly Hospital, Montebello, November 2016
- Centinela Hospital Medical Center, Ingelwood, May 2017
- Community Hospital of San Bernardino, San Bernardino, (2007) Re-Designated 2018-2023
- Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, (2004) Re-Designation Pending
- Community Memorial Hospital-San Buenaventura, Ventura, August 2018
- Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, Martinez, January 2020
- Corona Regional Medical Center, Corona, (2005) Re-Designated 2015-2020
- Desert Regional Medical Center, Palm Springs, (2010) Re-Designated 2015-2020
- Dignity Health-Dominican Hospital, Santa Cruz, (03/12) Re-Designated 2017-2022
- East Los Angeles Doctors Hospital, Los Angeles, December 2014
- El Camino Hospital Los Gatos, Los Gatos, May 2017
- Emanate Health Queen of the Valley Hospital, West Covina, October 2017
- Enloe Medical Center, Chico, (10/11) Re-Designated 2016-2021
- French Hospital Medical Center, San Luis Obispo, (2012) Re-Designated 2017-2022
- Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, Fountain Valley, December 2019
- George L. Mee Memorial Hospital, King City, May 2019
- Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center, Glendale, (2005) Re-Designated 2015-2020
- Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, June 2016
- Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, (04/12) Re-Designated 2017-2022
- Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, Valencia, (2011) Re-Designated 2016-2021
- Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, Los Angeles, April 2014
- Huntington Memorial Hospital, Pasadena, December 2016
- John Muir Health-Walnut Creek Campus, Walnut Creek, May 2019
- Kaiser Foundation Hospital-Orange County-Anaheim, Anaheim (08/11) Re-Designated 2016-2021
- Kaiser Foundation Hospital-Orange County-Irvine, Irvine, (08/11) Re-Designated 2016-2021
- Kern Medical Center, Bakersfield, May 2019
- LAC+USC Medical Center, Los Angeles, (04/12) Re-Designated 2017-2022
- LAC Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Sylmar, (07/11) Re-Designated 2016-2021
- Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, Loma Linda, (2009) Re-Designation pending.
- Marin General Hospital, Greenbrae, February 2017
- Marshall Medical Center, Placerville, July 2015
- Memorial Hospital of Gardena, Gardena, February 2017
- Mercy General Hospital, Sacramento, February 2019
- Mercy Hospital of Folsom, Folsom, June 2018
- Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Carmichael, May 2018
- Mercy Southwest Hospital, Bakersfield, September 2016
- Methodist Hospital of Sacramento, Sacramento, September 2017
- Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach, Long Beach, April 2018
- Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, Mission Viejo, July 2012
- Natividad Medical Center, Salinas, (01/13) Re-Designated 2018-2023
- Northbay Medical Center, Fairfield, (08/14) Re-Designated 2019-2024
- Northern Inyo Hospital, Bishop, September 2018
- Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Northridge, November 2016
- Parkview Community Hospital, Riverside, (10/11) Re-Designated 2016-2021
- Petaluma Valley Hospital, Petaluma, December 2015
- Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, Pomona, (03/14) Re-Designated 2019-2024
- Redlands Community Hospital, Redlands, (02/13) Re-Designated 2018-2023
- Riverside Community Hospital, Riverside, (05/12) Re-Designated 2017-2022
- Riverside University Health System-Medical Center, Moreno Valley, May 2015
- Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms, 29 Palms, (2005) Designation Pending
- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, January 2017
- Saint Agnes Medical Center, Fresno, December 2017
- Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, Salinas, (07/11) Re-Designated 2016-2021
- San Antonio Community Hospital, Upland, (2008) Re-Designated 2018-2023
- San Gabriel Valley Medical Center, San Gabriel, June 2014
- San Joaquin General Hospital, French Camp, April 2016
- Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara, April 2018
- Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Santa Clara, January 2019
- Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, Santa Monica, June 2018
- Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, Encinitas, (2004) Re-Designation Pending
- Sierra View Medical Center, Porterville, August 2016
- Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, San Luis Obispo, April 2017
- St. Bernardine Medical Center, San Bernardino, (2010) Re-Designated 2015-2020
- St. Francis Medical Center, Lynwood, October 2014
- St. Joseph Hospital, Orange, (2009) Re-Designated 2019-2024
- St. Joseph’s Medical Center of Stockton, Stockton, (03/12) Re-Designated 2017-2022
- St. Jude Medical Center, Fullerton, (07/11) Re-Designated 2016-2021
- St. Louise Regional Hospital, Gilroy, November 2017
- St. Mary Medical Center Long Beach, Long Beach, (03/15) Designation Pending
- Sutter Amador Hospital, Jackson, January 2018
- Sutter Davis Hospital, Davis, (2008) Re-Designated 2018-2023
- Sutter Maternity and Surgery Center, Santa Cruz, (03/12) Re-Designated 2017-2022
- Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, Sacramento, (03/12) Re-Designated 2017-2022
- Tahoe Forest Hospital, Truckee, (2010) Re-Designated 2015-2020
- Torrance Memorial Medical Center, Torrance, June 2018
- Twin Cities Community Hospital, Templeton, June 2015
- UC Irvine Medical Center, Orange, November 2017
- UC San Diego Health Hillcrest-Hillcrest Medical Center, San Diego, (2006) Re-Designated 2016-2021
- UC San Diego LaJolla-Jacobs Medical Center, La Jolla, (04/18) Re-Designated 2018-2023
- Ventura County Medical Center, Ventura, (2003) Re-Designated 2018-2023
- Ventura County Medical Center Santa Paula Hospital, Santa Paula, (2003) Re-Designated 2018-2023
- Washington Hospital Healthcare System, Fremont, (02/14) Re-Designated 2019-2024
- Watsonville Community Hospital, Watsonville, May 2018
- Weed Army Community Hospital, Fort Irwin, (1998) Re-Designation Pending
- Woodland Memorial Hospital, Woodland, (2010) Re-Designated 2015-2020
- Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, (2007) Re-Designated 2018-2023