CUMBERLAND MEDICAL CENTER TEAM

Every day, the Cumberland Medical Center team in Crossville, TN, makes a lasting difference for families in its community. CHEER is excited to spotlight them as our CHAMPion of the Week, celebrating their commitment to empowering mothers, nurturing healthy beginnings, and advancing breastfeeding support. Through evidence-based care, patient education, and heartfelt compassion, the team ensures that every mother and baby receives the tools, encouragement, and support needed to thrive from the very start.

A defining strength of the Cumberland Medical Center team is its holistic approach to breastfeeding support across the continuum of care. The team has implemented meaningful changes in its prenatal clinic to provide breastfeeding education during pregnancy, strengthened in-hospital practices that encourage skin-to-skin contact, rooming-in, and exclusive breastfeeding, and prioritized close postpartum follow-up for families after delivery. These efforts have improved support for mothers and infants and fostered a culture in which staff members take ownership of helping families breastfeed successfully.

Christine Navarro, RN, CBS, shares: “This work is important to us because we believe that providing breast milk for babies is a worthy endeavor for all mothers. Our desire is to inspire and support the women of our community as they prepare for the birth of their babies and assist them after delivery. There is nothing more inspirational than seeing a mother glow as her body begins to produce milk for her baby or as her baby latches and feeds successfully.”

The team also credits CHAMPS National’s encouragement and guidance as essential to its success. Christine notes that support from CHAMPS team members Cathy Carothers and Olivia Choi provided the practical tools, resources, and motivation needed to move their initiatives forward and continue implementing sustainable practice changes.

Since joining CHAMPS National, Cumberland Medical Center has transformed maternity care by dramatically increasing breastfeeding rates, skin-to-skin, and rooming-in rates. The team has expanded community and lactation support through prenatal education, postpartum support groups, becoming a milk depot, offering donor milk both in the hospital and through a “Milk To Go” bridge-to-home program, strengthening partnerships with WIC, investing in staff lactation expertise, and fostering a culture where nurses are enthusiastic about learning and supporting breastfeeding families.

CHEER celebrates the Cumberland Medical Center team for their passion, perseverance, and vision for a healthier future for mothers and babies!