UVA Medical Center ranked in the 95th percentile in a survey of 2,666 hospitals conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). UVA’s overall score on the Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care survey was 95 out of 100, compared with an average score of 76 among Virginia hospitals and an average score of 75 nationally.
Ann Kellams, MD, medical director of Well Newborn and Breastfeeding Medicine Services at UVA Children’s Hospital, credits the results to leadership support and teamwork among staff throughout the hospital as well as the departments of obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and family medicine. “We have made major changes to ensure that every mother has the best chance of reaching her feeding goal and that mothers and babies have the smoothest transition possible both after birth and when they go home,” she says.