Baby-Friendly Hospitals in Chicagoland

What is the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative?

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The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global program, launched in 1991 by WHO and UNICEF, that promotes evidence-based practices in maternity care that promote breastfeeding.  At the heart of the BFHI, are the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.  Hospitals that are Baby-Friendly designated follow the Ten Steps and also uphold the International WHO Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.

What Hospitals and Birth Centers in Chicagoland are Baby-Friendly?

While there may be hospitals that may be currently undergoing the process of achieving the Baby-Friendly designation or may claim similar status, only the following hospitals in Chicagoland currently hold Baby-Friendly designation:

  • Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, IL (2016)
  • Advocate Sherman Hospital, Elgin, IL (2016)
  • Advocate Trinity Hospital, Chicago, IL (2016)
  • Amita Alexian Brothers Medical Center, Elk Grove Village, IL (2020)
  • Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Centers, Evergreen Park, IL (2012)
  • Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL (2015)
  • Presence St. Joseph, Chicago, IL (2016)
  • Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL (2017)
  • St. Alexius Medical Center, Hoffman Estates, IL (2018)
  • University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL (2018)

What Hospitals and Birth Centers in Illinois are Baby-Friendly?

  • Alton Memorial Hospital, Alton, IL (2016)
  • Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana, IL (2018)
  • Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital, Dixon, IL (2018)
  • Mercyhealth Rockton Avenue Hospital, Rockford, IL (2015)
  • Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital, DeKalb, IL (2016)
  • Northwestern Medicine Valley West Hospital, Sandwich, IL (2016)
  • Pekin Hospital, Pekin, IL (re-designation 2016)
  • Rockford Memorial Hospital, Rockford, IL (2015)
  • Swedish American Hospital, Rockford, IL (2016)
  • St. John’s Hospital, Springfield, IL  (re-designation 2018)
  • St. Mary’s Hospital, Decatur, IL (2013, re-designation pending)
  • Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, Carbondale, IL (2015)
  • OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center, Urbana, IL (2017)
  • OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, Rockford, IL (2017)
  • OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington, IL (2017)
  • UnityPoint Health – Pekin, Pekin, IL (2006)