261757 Advancing a Breastfeeding Movement: Collaborating for Breastfeedng Success in the Hospital Setting

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 : 11:04 AM - 11:21 AM

Sadie Wych, MPH , HealthConnect One, Chicago, IL
Samantha Schoenfelder, RN, MS, APHN-BC , Healthy Places, Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC), Chicago, IL
Catherine Willows, RN, IBCLC , Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics, Chicago, IL
The Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH), the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago (PHIMC), the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC) were awarded Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) funding by the CDC. The initiative focuses on obesity prevention through policy, systems and environmental change.

As breastfeeding reduces the risk of obesity by 22%, breastfeeding promotion and support is a critical prevention strategy. Yet, breastfeeding rates in Illinois and Cook County are lower than the national average, with disproportionate racial and ethnic differences.

In order to promote and support the implementation of the evidence-based Baby-Friendly steps in maternity hospitals across Chicago and Cook County, CCDPH, PHIMC, CDPH and CLOCC are collaborating with HealthConnect One, the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and other local organizations. This collaboration uses cooperative, inter-organizational networks to build constituency and overall support for policy, systems and environmental change to improve breastfeeding initiation, duration and exclusivity in Cook County.

Project partners conducted outreach to all 36 hospitals across Cook County and provide technical assistance to hospitals committed to becoming designated Baby-Friendly or implementing a hospital breastfeeding quality improvement initiative. Nine of 36 (25%) hospitals across the region are committed to Baby-Friendly Hospital designation, thus far.

The collaboration between suburban Cook County and Chicago CPPW projects has created the Hospital Breastfeeding Council of Metro Chicago, as a forum to allow all maternity hospitals in Metropolitan Chicago to learn, network and share best practices related to breastfeeding quality improvement initiatives. This council has provided hospital breastfeeding champions with a peer to peer support model to develop strategies for change. Lessons learned from the CPPW project activities are being used to create a virtual hospital toolkit for implementation of Baby-Friendly steps for Illinois maternity hospitals.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss a collaboration to promote breastfeeding. 2. Identify actions to promote implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative in maternity care hospitals. 3. Describe regional solutions for supporting breastfeeding quality improvement initiatives.

Keywords: Breast Feeding, Public Health Advocacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the key project staff member for the program in which the abstract has been submitted. I am a passionate breastfeeding advocate and extremely familiar with the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and evidence-based maternity care practices that promote breastfeeding. I also assisted in the creation of the Illinois Breastfeeding Blueprint: A Plan for Change which outlines a plan to improve breastfeeding rates in Illinois.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5113.0: Improving Maternity Practices: Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative