AdventHealth Focuses on Neonatal Health Care, Breast Feeding

When Erica Millan of Davenport delivered her first child, Francisco, on Super Bowl Sunday at AdventHealth Heart of Florida, she knew she wanted to breastfeed. However, that journey isn’t always easy.

With the support of the hospital’s lactation consultant and nurse, Tina Worth, she successfully continued breastfeeding her son when they both went home. Millan was thankful when Worth followed up with her several times after Francisco's birth to make sure they were both doing well.

“I thought it was really cool that she still reaches out to people, you know, months after they’ve already given birth, just to check up on them,” Millan said.

Millan is part of the 85 percent of Polk County mothers who choose to start breastfeeding their babies, according to the latest data from the Florida Department of Health. However, as the National Institute of Health found, as many as 25–50 percent of women in the United States stop breastfeeding in the first month, and more than half of these stop in the first two weeks.

Both state and hospital leaders said it’s critical to provide support for new mothers who want to continue breastfeeding. Danelle Ward, MSN, RNC-OB, director of Women’s Services for AdventHealth Heart of Florida, is part of a team diligently working to tackle this issue and help provide women in Davenport and the surrounding communities with care.

“AdventHealth Heart of Florida offers a variety of classes and support groups for expectant and new mothers to help them in their motherhood journey, as part of our efforts to offer high-quality, whole person care to these amazing women.” Ward said. “This not only helps educate new parents on what to expect but provides a community with a built-in support system.”

AdventHealth Heart of Florida offers a breastfeeding and mom support group every Wednesday at the hospital. Millan plans to go as often as she can.

“It’s something nice to do to get out of the house and be around other women who have babies also,” Millan said. “It worked out perfectly for me.”

However, breastfeeding and new parent support is not the only priority for hospital leaders, as the most recent data from the Florida Department of Health now shows the number of births to mothers with no prenatal care in Polk County is rising, while also being higher than the state average.

In 2022, 3.8 percent of births in Polk County were to mothers who had no prenatal care, compared to the Florida average of 3.2 percent. Additionally, the number of such births to women with no prenatal care in Polk County jumped from 303 in 2021 to 335 in 2022.

At the same time, research by the National Library of Medicine shows only 63 percent of pregnant women in Florida receive adequate prenatal care.

Health experts said women who see a health care provider regularly during pregnancy have healthier babies and are less likely to have pregnancy complications. They recommend women begin prenatal care visits in the first trimester of pregnancy or as soon as pregnancy is suspected or confirmed.

“Early prenatal care is critical to a mother and child’s care, because it can allow health care providers to identify potential problems as early as possible so they can be prevented or treated before they become serious.” Ward said.

For more information on how to connect with our AdventHealth Heart of Florida Birth Experience Coordinator, who can answer any questions expectant mothers have from pregnancy, birth and beyond go to www.adventhealth.com/adventhealth-women/our-services/birth-experience.

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