Over 4,500 babies are born at Humber River Health (Humber) each year. Their team of health professionals aim to provide expecting mothers with the best experience and care during and after pregnancy, offering a wide range of services to support all aspects of their patients’ care journeys, such as effective lactation support. 

The Hospital understands that many mothers who deliver at Humber are interested in breastfeeding. To meet the needs of their patients, Humber’s Maternal and Child Program wanted to implement a comprehensive Lactation Program that would offer services, education, and consultations to patients – lucky for them, a team of engineering students from the University of Toronto was available to help.  

In collaboration with the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto, Humber welcomed five groups of student engineers to work with various departments for the 2023/24 school year. With support from the Hospital’s Innovation Excellence team, the students participated in Capstone Projects to assist with process engineering and redesign work, such as the Lactation Program Redesign in the Maternal and Child Department. 

This project aimed to redesign Humber’s existing Lactation Program and develop a Lactation Model of Care that optimized their current Lactation Consultant resources. The project’s goal was to enhance the breastfeeding rate and increase access to lactation services. Services included group teaching classes, 1:1 consultations (in-person and virtual), and routine inpatient rounding of all breastfeeding patients in Humber’s Birthing Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). 

Currently, the Maternal and Child Program has proudly implemented the Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO) Best Practice Guideline for Breastfeeding. Patients are being discharged from the Hospital with a 97 per cent breastfeeding education completion rate. The team is also preparing to launch daily group breastfeeding classes to continue optimizing patient access to Humber’s expert nurses and Lactation Consultants for lactation support. 

To learn more about delivering your baby at Humber, as well as other services available, click here.