Monmouth Medical Center opens breastfeeding wellness center

Monmouth Medical Center has opened an outpatient Breastfeeding Wellness Center at the Anne Vogel Family Care and Wellness Center.

The program, which provides breastfeeding support before and after childbirth on an outpatient basis, is designed to help and support families in reaching their breastmilk feeding goals through lactation consultations and breastfeeding support and education programs.

Conveniently located at the Anne Vogel Family Care and Wellness Center at the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, the center offers consultations with registered nurse international board certified lactation consultants to help mothers overcome challenges to breastfeeding. Additionally, the center offers private prenatal consults and information on how to order a breast pump through insurance on an outpatient basis.

About the Vogel Center

The Anne Vogel Family Care & Wellness Center opened this spring, with pediatric subspecialty practices in cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, pulmonology and infectious diseases, as well as general surgery, urology and otolaryngology and women’s services including maternal/fetal medicine. The building also serves as the home for Monmouth Medical Center’s Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders Center and offers urgent care services and a lab blood drawing station. The 82,000-square-foot medical and wellness facility includes wellness education and resources through the LiveWell Center and WEforum Demonstration Kitchen featuring Dorothea and Jon Bon Jovi Nutrition Education Programs.

Children’s Specialized Hospital, a fellow RWJBarnabas Health facility, occupies the second floor of the Anne Vogel Family Care & Wellness Center, offering medical and therapy services including audiology, developmental and behavioral pediatrics, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychiatry, psychology, and speech language therapy. This is the first CSH location in Monmouth County and will serve to enhance access to specialized services for local patients and families.

The center also offers weekly free in-person and virtual support groups that promote breastfeeding through mother-to-mother support in a warm and welcoming environment. The support group is led by a registered nurse board certified lactation consultant. All topics and issues related to breastfeeding are included in the group discussions.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life, then to continue for two years or more along with starting solid foods. The more a baby receives breastmilk, the more protection they will have against short- and long-term illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tara Ann Murphy, the lactation consultant for the Breastfeeding Wellness Center, said breastfeeding has great impact.

“One of the best things we can do as a start for our children is to provide them with the best nutrition available through breastmilk,” she said. “Not only is your baby being fed a milk that is customized for them, but it passes on the benefit of the mother’s immune factors for as long as the baby receives breastmilk. Breastfeeding is one of the most rewarding experiences of motherhood and is the healthiest way to feed an infant during the first year of life.”

Monmouth Medical Center’s expansive comprehensive breastfeeding program includes support prenatally with breastfeeding education prior to delivery, in-hospital lactation support and continued lactation services after discharge. It is designed to provide women with information about the benefits of breastfeeding, as well as the skills to successfully nurse their babies.