UNC Health Chatham Maternity Care Center Earns Five-Star Breastfeeding Friendly Designation
State’s highest recognition builds on Baby-Friendly USA designation and 2026 U.S. News & World Report honor
UNC Health Chatham Maternity Care Center has earned a five-star designation from the North Carolina Maternity Center Breastfeeding-Friendly Designation Review Committee, the program’s highest level of recognition. The honor further distinguishes the center as a leader in evidence-based maternity care and reflects its ongoing commitment to helping mothers, babies and families begin their journey with compassionate, individualized support.
The five-star designation is the latest in a series of recognitions affirming the quality of maternity care at UNC Health Chatham. Earlier this year, the Maternity Care Center achieved the internationally recognized Baby-Friendly designation from Baby-Friendly USA following a rigorous review of its infant feeding practices and implementation of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. The center was also named a 2026 High Performing Hospital for Maternity Care by U.S. News & World Report.
Together, the three distinctions recognize a comprehensive approach to maternity care that emphasizes clinical quality, patient education, respectful decision-making and support that begins before delivery and continues through the postpartum period.
“This five-star designation reflects the dedication of our entire maternity care team and our commitment to offering families evidence-based education, compassionate support and individualized care,” said Beverly Carpenter, MSN, RN-BC, Maternity Center Manager at UNC Health Chatham. “We are proud to help parents make informed feeding decisions and give mothers and babies a strong, healthy start.”
The North Carolina Maternity Center Breastfeeding-Friendly Designation Program is a voluntary recognition program that honors hospitals for implementing internationally recognized maternity care practices that support breastfeeding. Hospitals earn one to five stars as they demonstrate progress in practices such as immediate skin-to-skin contact, keeping mothers and babies together whenever medically appropriate and providing families with consistent, evidence-based infant feeding education before discharge.
UNC Health Chatham received the five-star designation through an abbreviated application process based on its current Baby-Friendly USA designation. As the accrediting body for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative in the United States, Baby-Friendly USA recognizes facilities that meet rigorous standards for infant feeding care and successfully implement the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.
“This recognition affirms our team’s commitment to delivering high-quality, patient- and family-centered maternity care close to home,” said Jeff Strickler, president of UNC Health Chatham. “Every family deserves respectful care, trusted guidance and the support needed to begin their journey with confidence.”
At UNC Health Chatham, breastfeeding-friendly practices are part of a broader commitment to patient- and family-centered care. Families receive clear information, hands-on guidance and individualized support while maintaining the freedom to make the feeding choices that are right for them. These practices help promote bonding, build parental confidence and support positive maternal and infant health outcomes.
