P.D. Gordon said,
"After sending my supervisor umpteen articles & studies on the
importance of breastfeeding and its public health implications, he has
asked me if there are any public health programs out there in other
states utilizing a breastfeeding promotion model that we could consider
here--aside from WIC which already has their BF promotion program,
albeit a little schizophrenic. Does anyone out there working in public
health in another state besides Delaware have a department-wide
breastfeeding promotion program utilized by public health as a whole?"
You know, having a whole breastfeeding promotion program already done
and ready to go would be fabulous. I don't know that anyone has such a
thing. I'll be looking to see who else responds and what they have. My
sense is that it will be different in every state, because (as they like
to say in the public health field) "if you've seen one health
department, you've seen one health department!" (meaning they work
differently in every state) I work for our state department of health,
after having been in the hospital and private practice fields for many
years. I think public health is the logical place to affect broader
changes in breastfeeding support, so I made a conscious shift in focus
last year. Here in Indiana, we started with a statewide SWOT analysis
about breastfeeding and formulated from that "state plan". It was
pretty comprehensive as far as identifying problems and what we thought
was needed. This process took us a few years! We have had great
feedback on it and are now in the process of trying to implement it.
Here's where it can be found:
http://www.indianaperinatal.org/programs-breastfeeding-materials-and-res
ources.aspx. What you will also find there is our current push, which
has taken on a life of it's own, to implement HRSA's The Business Case
for Breastfeeding. We were one of ten states chosen by HRSA to receive
it in the first wave. We passed legislation this year encouraging
workplace lactation support, so it was a timely "perfect storm" if you
will, of having the right tool available at just the right time. I
would recommend this to any state looking for something to help promote
breastfeeding in your state. You'll get much more buy-in from a wider
range of groups than you probably will with a run-of-the-mill
breastfeeding promotion message. We also hired a state breastfeeding
coordinator. She and I often work in tandem, which has been great. I
do data and research-related stuff and work through the health
department on issues at our level and she does...well, everything else!
She's very busy. If you read the document referenced above, called
"Born to be Breastfed, A Call to Action to Promote Breastfeeding in
Indiana," you'll get a good picture of the process we went through. We
are doing exciting things here in Indiana. I feel like I'm in the
catbird seat and I love it!
Good luck in your efforts,
Marsha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Marsha Glass RN, BSN, IBCLC~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mothers have as powerful an influence over the welfare of future
generations as all
other earthly causes combined.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~John S. C. Abbot~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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