While breastfeeding initiation rates have increased, there are persistent disparities in the duration and exclusive rates by race/ethnicity, and socio-economic status. Suboptimal breastfeeding has short- and long-term negative health outcomes for infants and lactating parents. One of the drivers of breastfeeding discontinuation are gaps in continuity of lactation care (CoC) in the community. Chest/breastfeeding CoC is achieved by consistent, collaborative, and seamless delivery of high-quality services for families throughout the first 1,000 days.

As maternal and pediatric care is often not centralized, family units receive support in different settings across the first 1,000 days. There needs to be intentional coordination among the numerous lactation support providers and settings in both prenatal and postpartum periods. In addition to care coordination, CoC in breastfeeding also refers to the establishment of proactive supportive environments where families live, work, play through implementation of organizational policies, systems and environment (PSE) solutions. Establishing chest/breastfeeding CoC in historically oppressed communities is key to improving breastfeeding duration and exclusivity rates, advancing breastfeeding equity, and improving overall community health.

Through the past three years, with funding from CDC and in partnership with the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee, NACCHO developed the Continuity of Care (CoC) in Breastfeeding Support Blueprint with inputs from over 100 experts in the field that aims to ensure that lactation support services are continuous, accessible, and coordinated in communities across the country. Intended for local-level organizations and individuals interacting with pregnant and postpartum families, the Blueprint provides seven recommendations to establish CoC to strengthen the lactation landscape. Developed with a public health lens, these recommendations aim to increase local capacity to implement community-driven approaches that are centered on the needs of disproportionately impacted populations. Each recommendation is supported by practical strategies targeted at different stakeholders to enable the advancement of CoC in communities across the country.