The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global program that was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 1991 to encourage and recognize hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of care for infant feeding and mother/baby bonding. It recognizes and awards birthing facilities who successfully implement the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. The BFHI assists hospitals in giving all mothers the information, confidence, and skills necessary to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies or feeding formula safely, and gives special recognition to hospitals that have done so.

Becoming a Baby-Friendly facility is a comprehensive, detailed and thorough journey toward excellence in providing evidence-based, maternity care with the goal of achieving optimal infant feeding outcomes and mother/baby bonding. It compels facilities to examine, challenge and modify longstanding policies and procedures. It requires training and skill building among all levels of staff. It entails implementing audit processes to assure quality in all aspects of maternity care operations. The journey is exciting, challenging, and worth it! It creates opportunities to develop high performance work teams and build leadership skills among staff, promotes employee pride, enhances patient satisfaction and improves health outcomes.  For more information visit Baby-Friendly USA at:  http://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/

Formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), TJC is a United States-based organization that accredits more than 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.   A majority of state governments have come to recognize Joint Commission accreditation as a condition of licensure and the receipt of Medicaid reimbursement, among other benefits of accreditation.  Surveys (inspections) typically follow a triennial cycle and evaluate hospitals on “core measurements”, with findings made available to the public in an accreditation quality report on the Quality Check Web site. 

In 2010, the Joint Commission introduced a perinatal core measurement that for the first time included measurement of exclusive breastfeeding.  As of January 1, 2014 this core measure will be included in the accreditation certification.  To find out more, visit their website at:   http://www.jointcommission.org/

mPINC is a national survey of maternity care practices and policies that is conducted by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) every two years since 2007.  The survey is mailed to all facilities with registered maternity beds in the United States and its territories.  The mPINC survey measures infant feeding related policies and practices showing facilities their strengths and areas that need improvement.  Benchmark reports are prepared for each facility, but only the national and state data are readily accessible to the public.  For more information, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/mpinc/index.htm

The ABM describes itself as a worldwide organization of physicians dedicated to the promotion, protection, and support of breastfeeding and human lactation.  The mission of the ABM is to unite members of the various medical specialties with this common purpose.  The ABM publishes a peer-reviewed journal with lactation research, and also develops policy statements and clinical protocols that serve as guidelines for the medical care of breastfeeding mothers and infants.  To find out more about the ABM or access its protocols, go to: http://www.bfmed.org

The AAP is a national organization of physicians and health professionals dedicated to the health of all children.  Their mission is to attain optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.  Within the AAP are several smaller groups focusing on a subspecialty of pediatrics or a special interest.  One such group is the Section on Breastfeeding. This is where most of the AAP policy statements and recommendations concerning breastfeeding and the use of human milk are developed.  For more information about the AAP, go to: http://www.aap.org or information specifically on the AAP Section on Breastfeeding, access this website: http://www2.aap.org/breastfeeding/

The CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) is committed to increasing breastfeeding rates throughout the United States and to promoting and supporting optimal breastfeeding practices toward the ultimate goal of improving the public's health. Their website contains several resources helpful to breastfeeding and healthcare professionals:

Image #1    CDC Guide to Strategies to Support Breastfeeding Mothers & Babies
Information for state and local community members to choose the breastfeeding strategy that best meets their needs.

Image #2  2013 CDC Breastfeeding Report Card
State-by-state data to help health professionals, employers, business owners, community members and family members work together to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.

Image #3  Progress in Increasing Breastfeeding and Reducing Racial/Ethnic Differences — United States, 2000-2008 Births
National Immunization Survey data indicate racial and ethnic differences in initiation (beginning) and duration (period of time) rates.

Image #4  2011 Surgeon General's Call to Action
The Surgeon General seeks to make it possible for every mother who wishes to breastfeed to be able to do so by shifting how we as a nation think and talk about breastfeeding.
Action Guides for health care settings

The Office on Women’s Health is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is dedicated to helping all women and girls achieve the best possible health.  The Office on Women’s Health provides national leadership and coordination to improve the health of women and girls through policy, education, and model programs.  Their goals are to inform and advance policies, educate the public, educate professionals, and support model programs. One of their programs is breastfeeding, and the website page covers breastfeeding topics for both mothers and professionals. 

The International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners is valued worldwide as the most trusted source for certifying practitioners in lactation and breastfeeding care.  Their mission is to hold the highest standard in lactation and breastfeeding care worldwide and to certify only individuals who meet these standards.  To learn more about the IBLCE and their certification process, visit their website at http://iblce.org/

The Missouri Breastfeeding Coalition works to improve the nutritional status and overall health of families in Missouri by working collaboratively to promote, support, and protect breastfeeding in all Missouri communities. Their website includes listing for local breastfeeding coalitions, resources, and milk depots throughout Missouri

More information can be found at their website: http://www.mobreastfeeding.org/

A division of the USDA Food and Nutrition Services, The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk. The mission of WIC is to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutrition risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care.

Research has shown that there is no better food than breast milk for a baby’s first year of life. Breastfeeding provides health, nutritional, economical and emotional benefits to mother and baby. Since a major goal of the WIC Program is to improve the nutritional status of infants, WIC mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their infants. WIC has historically promoted breastfeeding to all pregnant women as the optimal infant feeding choice, unless medically contraindicated.

• WIC mothers choosing to breastfeed are provided information through counseling and breastfeeding educational materials.
• Breastfeeding mothers receive follow-up support through peer counselors.
• Breastfeeding mothers are eligible to participate in WIC longer than non-breastfeeding mothers.
• Mothers who exclusively breastfeed their infants receive an enhanced food package.
• Breastfeeding mothers can receive breast pumps, breast shells or nursing supplementers to help support the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding.

Many excellent breastfeeding resources are available on the WIC Works Resource System Website:  http://wicworks.nal.usda.gov/breastfeeding

The Springfield-Greene County WIC is a breastfeeding-friendly clinic providing breastfeeding support through education, hospital visits, peer counselors and individual consultation with one of their IBCLCs.  They are located at 440 E. Tampa, Springfield, Missouri, 65806, in the same building as Jordan Valley Community Health Center.  They may be contacted at 417-851-1581 and the breastfeeding office is 417-851-1583. 

For more information go to: http://health.springfieldmo.gov/index.aspx?nid=114

Wellstart International         http://www.wellstart.org/index.htm

Wellstart International is a nonprofit organization launched originally as the San Diego Lactation Program (SDLP) in 1979-1980. In 1983 with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) SDLP added an international faculty education and development program, The Lactation Management Education Program (LMEP). The conversion of the SDLP to an independent nonprofit organization, Wellstart International, and a move to a nearby but separate location occurred in 1985.

Wellstart International’s mission is to advance the knowledge, skills and abilities of health care providers regarding the promotion, protection and support of optimal infant and maternal health and nutrition from conception through the completion of weaning.

Programs Available

Lactation Management Self-Study Modules, Level I

This volume contains three self-study modules for medical, nursing, and nutrition students designed to provide them with the basic tools necessary for supporting breastfeeding, including prevention and basic management of common clinical problems affecting the mother/infant couple. Available as a FREE download on their home page.. Download a preview.

Lactation Management Curriculum: A Faculty Guide for Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Nutrition, Fourth Edition

This guide is intended to assist faculty and other curriculum planners to integrate lactation-related topics into clinical and classroom courses throughout health professionals' preparatory programs at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels

Community-based Breastfeeding Support Trilogy

 A set of manuals designed to complement each other as support for breastfeeding in the community.  The 3 volume set includes:

{C}·         A Planning Manual. Wellstart's Expanded Promotion of Breastfeeding Program, U.S. Agency for International Development and Nurture. This manual is designed to help managers and planners create new community-based activities in support of breastfeeding, as well as to monitor, expand, or improve the components of existing programs.

{C}·         A Training Curriculum.  This curriculum contains the information needed to train volunteers and other community-level workers in the fundamentals of breastfeeding management and support, with an integrated approach to maternal and child health and nutrition.

{C}·         A Guide for Trainers and Supervisors.  This manual provides a detailed discussion of interpersonal counseling and facilitation skills. It also contains sections on implementation of educational and promotional activities in community-based breastfeeding programs.

Breastfeeding Conferences.com http://breastfeedingconferences.com/

The site where health care professionals access nationwide breastfeeding education opportunities, CERPS, conference, classroom, at-home, and online education.  Their data base includes national and international conferences as well as state and local opportunities.  Over 30,000 users annually; 3,000 lactation professionals use their site each month.