MUSC Health Florence Women’s Pavilion Gains International Recognition With Care Award

The International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners® (IBLCE®) and International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®) have recently recognized MUSC Health Florence Women’s Pavilion for excellence in lactation care.

MUSC Health Florence Women’s Pavilion has received the IBCLC Care Award in recognition of staffing professionals who hold the prestigious International Board Certified Lactation Consultant® (IBCLC®) certification and provide a lactation program for breastfeeding families. In addition, the facility demonstrated that it has recently completed activities that help protect, promote, and support breastfeeding.

The MUSC Health Florence Women’s Pavilion is one of only six facilities in South Carolina and the only one in the Pee Dee area to be named by the IBCLC.

“Giving excellent patient care is the driving force of what I do. It is my honor to be able to support families in their feeding journey with their new bundle of joy,” said Lela Gregg, MUSC Health Florence Women’s Pavilion Lactation Specialist.

IBCLCs focus on preventive care and make services available during pregnancy to assess and provide information on how to initiate breastfeeding successfully. They continue that assistance after the baby is born by helping families overcome breastfeeding challenges, providing accurate information, and supporting them as their baby grows. They assist families returning to work or school, help families in more unusual situations such as breastfeeding more than one baby or nursing a sick or premature infant, and help train nursing staff to manage basic breastfeeding care.

“Lela is very deserving of this prestigious recognition,” said Catherine Godwin, MSN, BSN, RN, MUSC Health Florence Director of Women’s Services. “Lactation is both her calling and her passion. Her dedication to patients and her craft surpasses our expectations”.

The MUSC Health Florence Women’s Pavilion has been named a 2022-2023 Best Hospital for Maternity Care by U.S. News & World Report and is also Baby-Friendly and Safe Sleep Certified. For more information about prenatal education programs, call (843) 674-5000, or visit MUSCHealth.org.

About IBCLC

As allied health care professionals with the leading internationally recognized certification for professional lactation services, IBCLC professionals work in hospitals and birthing centers, clinics, public health agencies, private practice, community settings, government agencies, and in research. There are currently nearly 36,000 such professionals in 131 countries worldwide who are IBCLCs (www.iblce.org). The IBCLC certification program is accredited by the NCCA, the accreditation arm of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence. NCCA accreditation represents a mark of quality for certification programs.

About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, with a unique mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates more than 3,200 students in six colleges – Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy – and trains more than 900 residents and fellows in its health system. MUSC brought in more than $298 million in research funds in fiscal year 2022, leading the state overall in research funding. MUSC also leads the state in federal and National Institutes of Health funding, with more than $220 million. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the health care system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest-quality and safest patient care while educating and training generations of outstanding health care providers and leaders to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Patient care is provided at 16 hospitals (includes owned and equity stake),with approximately 2,700 beds and four additional hospital locations in development; more than 350 telehealth sites and connectivity to patients’ homes; and nearly 750 care locations situated in all regions of South Carolina. In 2022, for the eighth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health University Medical Center in Charleston the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC has a total enterprise annual operating budget of $5.1 billion. The nearly 26,000 MUSC family members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, students, affiliates and care team members who deliver groundbreaking education, research, and patient care.