196140 Breastfeeding Promotion and Support: A Model Program for Health Departments

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Nikki Lee, RN, MS, IBCLC , Division of Maternal, Child and Family Health, Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA
  
Since 1992, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health has had a lactation consultant whose job has been to implement Philadelphia's Breastfeeding Promotion Policy. In order to increase breastfeeding initiation, exclusivity and duration in Philadelphia, the lactation consultant provides training to healthcare staff in institutions, community organizations and programs. She develops and updates breastfeeding resources, such as the Breastfeeding Resource Guide and My Breastfeeding Plan. The lactation consultant uses the Baby-Friendly USA outline for a 3-day Interdisciplinary Breastfeeding Management Course for the US, so that healthcare professionals working in hospitals will have met a requirement for Baby-Friendly status, an internationally recognized award developed by the WHO and UNICEF.

The lactation consultant is using the "Business Case for Breastfeeding" (developed by the Health Services and Resource Administration of DHHS) to collaborate with the local Chamber of Commerce so that businesses can be educated in ways to support their breastfeeding employees. The lactation consultant is collecting data in pediatric clinics that will be used to develop promotional and supportive activities.

This model of breastfeeding promotion and support used by the PDPH is offered to other health departments as a way that our nation can meet the Healthy People 2010 Goals for breastfeeding. Breastfeeding initiation has been steadily increasing in Philadelphia since 2003, a sign of an effective program.

Learning Objectives:
Differentiate betweeen exclusive, partial and token breastfeeding. Describe the Healthy People 2010 Goals for Breastfeeding Identify the 3 elements necessary to make breastfeeding the cultural norm in the USA

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been working in the field of lactation consulting since 1978, and working in public health since 1973. As part of my job as lactation consultant for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, I give trainings, workshops and courses to healthcare professionals. I am an active member of the Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition, the Philadelphia Breastfeeding Coalition, and the Maternity Care Coalition Breastfeeding sub-committee. I have had a private practice since 1989, and have been a conference speaker on various topics related to breastfeeding since 1992.
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.

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