W.K. Kellogg Foundation Awards Grant to U.S. Breastfeeding Committee

Wednesday, April 18, 2012, by Ronda

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Megan Renner, 202.367.1132, mrenner@usbreastfeeding.org

W.K. Kellogg Foundation Awards Grant to U.S. Breastfeeding Committee to Build National and State Coalitions to Implement Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change

View web version of this release

 

Washington, DC—The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) is pleased to announce receipt of a $694,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The three-year award will fund a two-part initiative to build and sustain national and state coalitions to generate collective action to implement policy, systems, and environmental changes needed to increase breastfeeding rates and eliminate disparities.

“With 75% of mothers initiating breastfeeding, we know that most mothers want to breastfeed, but they encounter several barriers along the way that make it difficult to reach their personal breastfeeding goals,” said USBC Chair Jeanne Blankenship. “As the national focus on breastfeeding continues to grow, we applaud the commitment of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to building the infrastructure to support the cross-sector collaboration necessary to tackle the complexity of this issue.”

The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding, released in January 2011, identifies the USBC and its affiliated state coalitions as the primary partners in the implementation of its 20 recommended actions, along with the federal interagency work group on breastfeeding. Therefore, Part 1 of the grant initiative will focus on support forstate breastfeeding coalitions, beginning with a comprehensive assessment to inform the design of customized technical assistance and enhanced training and networking opportunities for coalition leaders.

On the national level, Part 2 of the initiative will apply the “Collective Impact” model with a specific focus on increasing access to and continuity of skilled support for breastfeeding between hospitals and community health settings. Collective Impact Initiatives, as defined by John Kania & Mark Kramer in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, are “…long-term commitments by a group of important actors from different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem. Their actions are supported by a shared measurement system, mutually reinforcing activities, and ongoing communication, and are staffed by an independent backbone organization.”

Upon discharge from the hospital, many new mothers are unable to find or access skilled breastfeeding support. Hospitals, health care providers, and community organizations often lack systems to connect mothers to this skilled support. To address this gap, Action 8 of the Call to Action calls for the development of “systems to guarantee continuity of skilled support.” The responsibility for building such systems is shared between hospitals, providers, and community organizations, making collaboration an imperative. As the national, multi-sectoral breastfeeding coalition, the USBC is uniquely qualified to lead this collective approach to systemic change to “help make breastfeeding easier,” in the words of U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin.

According to Blankenship, “the Call to Action truly paints the landscape of breastfeeding support in the United States, demonstrating a society-wide approach to removing the barriers to breastfeeding success. The USBC looks forward to working with members and partners, public and private, at the national, state, and community levels, so that mothers throughout the country receive the care and support they need and deserve.”

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, established in 1930, supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa. For further information on the foundation, please visit www.wkkf.org.

USBC is an organization of organizations. Opinions expressed by USBC are not necessarily the position of all member organizations and opinions expressed by USBC member organization representatives are not necessarily the position of USBC.

The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) is an independent nonprofit coalition of more than 40 nationally influential professional, educational, and governmental organizations. Representing over one million concerned professionals and the families they serve, USBC and its member organizations share a common mission to improve the Nation’s health by working collaboratively to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. For more information about USBC, visit www.usbreastfeeding.org.

United States Breastfeeding Committee: Advancing breastfeeding on our Nation’s agenda.

  • Collaboration
  • Leadership
  • Advocacy

United States Breastfeeding Committee
2025 M Street, NW, Suite 800 ♦ Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202/367-1132 ♦ Fax: 202/367-2132
E-mail: office@usbreastfeeding.org


Public Citizen calls for discontinuing hospital formula marketing

Wednesday, April 18, 2012, by Ronda

Hospitals should be in the business of promoting health, not enriching infant formula makers.

But infant formula manufacturers are using the vast majority of U.S. hospitals to market their products.

Tell the infant formula industry to stop pushing its products on new mothers.

Public Citizen has sent letters, cosigned by more than 100 other organizations, to 2600 hospitals across the country asking that they stop giving new mothers industry-provided samples of formula.*

Now we’re taking the fight directly to the Big Pharma and Big Food formula makers and calling on them to stop using healthcare facilities as marketing vehicles.

Corporate profits shouldn’t trump the health of families.

Join the growing opposition to infant formula marketing in hospitals. Tell formula companies to stop this harmful practice.

Infant formula companies are undermining public health by advertising in healthcare facilities. It’s time for it to stop.

photograph of Robert Weissman Sincerely,
Robert Weissman's signature
Robert Weissman
President, Public Citizen

P.S. This is our first major campaign since Public Citizen took on the Commercial Alert project. Watch for more updates on this and other important campaigns from my colleague Elizabeth Ben-Ishai, who we’ve brought on to coordinate the Commercial Alert project.

*Read Public Citizen’s letter to hospitals.
Go to http://action.citizen.org/unsubscribe.jsp if you do not want to receive future emails from Public Citizen.

© 2012 Public Citizen • 1600 20th Street, NW / Washington, D.C. 20009 • www.citizen.org

GOLD Conference set to begin April 24th

Wednesday, April 18, 2012, by Ronda

Global Online Lactation Discussion Global Online Lactation Discussion Event Newsletter
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CERPs are here!
In This Issue
iconbulletCERPs/CMEs/CNEs iconbullet Keynote Address iconbullet The GOLD Conference Team
Topics Dates to Remember
We’re sending out this interim newsletter because we thought you’d want to know that we’ve just heard from the IBLCE who have approved GOLD 2012’s full conference content for 23 CERPs.  We’re so pleased to be able to offer our Delegates such great value for their educational dollar!  If you’re a nurse and need to collect nursing contact hours, GOLD 2012’s educational line up will provide you with 20 CNEs.  And… new this year…Continuing Medical Education!  The GOLD Conference team didn’t want to leave out the physicians among us, so we’ve got points for them, too!  GOLD 2012 lectures offer 20 CMEs.
April 24 Keynote Address by Dr. Christina Smillie
May 1 GOLD goes live!
May 1 – 5 Live Presentations take place
May 16-17 Hot Topic Presentations
May 31 End of Educational Presentations
June 15 Last Day of Conference
Keynote Address
As we go to press, GOLD 2012’s Keynote Address is only ONE WEEK away! Have you signed up for Dr. Christina Smillie’s presentation yet? It takes place at two different times on April 24/25 (depending on where you are in the world). The Keynote Address gives interested parties a small taste of GOLD and it gives our registered Delegates a chance to check their computer requirements before the conference goes live on May 1st. For more information and to sign up for the Keynote Address visit our website.

Keeping formula marketing out of hospitals: A campaign for women

Wednesday, April 18, 2012, by Ronda

By: Elizabeth Ben-Ishai

Picture of baby

Last week’s launch of Public Citizen’s campaign to stop infant formula marketing in healthcare facilities got lots of people talking – and acting. In less than a week, more than 13,000 people signed their names to a petition calling on the three major formula companies to stop using healthcare facilities to market their products. Dozens of newsoutlets and blogs covered the campaign’s launch, which also included sending letters, co-signed by more than 100 other organizations, to more than 2,600 hospitals across the country. The organizations are calling on hospitals to stop allowing formula companies to co-opt their facilities for profit-making purposes that undermine the advice of all major healthcare provider organizations: Breastfeeding is best for babies and mothers’ health.

To read the whole article, go here.

United States Lactation Consultant Association Announces

Tuesday, January 24, 2012, by Lynette

Date: January 2012  
Contact: Scott Sherwood                                                              For immediate release
Tel. 919-861-4543 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              919-861-4543      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Email: ScottSherwood@uslcaonline.org

 
Morrisville, NC-January 20 marks the anniversary of Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin’s historic Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding. Dr. Benjamin challenged all Americans to do their part to remove barriers to breastfeeding.

 
Breastfeeding is a key to primary prevention in public health, playing a role in preventing many infections, as well as serious non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease and some cancers. While breastfeeding is important to the health of both mothers and children, American mothers who breastfeed face significant obstacles.  Skeptical family members and a cultural norm that favors formula-feeding, outdated hospital practices and uninformed health care providers, inflexible workplaces and lack of protective policies conspire to make the road to breastfeeding success a bumpy and uncomfortable ride.
 Dr. Benjamin’s Call to Action elevated discussion of breastfeeding to a topic of national importance. A major study published in the journal Pediatrics estimated that the United States would save $13 billion per year in health care and other costs if 90% of infants were exclusively breastfed for six months.   Additionally, employers enjoy a significant return on investment for the dollars spent providing accommodations for nursing mothers such as private spaces and break times for mothers to express milk.  Employers with robust lactation programs are rewarded with increased employee retention and satisfaction and fewer sick days taken as their employee’s children are generally sick less frequency than those who are formula-fed.
As a new year begins, the United States Lactation Consultant Association (USLCA) encourages each and every resident to consider how they can support breastfeeding.  It could be by encouraging a pregnant family member to learn about breastfeeding, asking lawmakers to vote for protective policies, providing space for a nursing mothers’ group, graciously covering during a colleague’s nursing break, or just making a nursing mother feel comfortable and welcome wherever she may be.   
The Surgeon General identified 20 evidence-based actions, including ensuring access to services provided by International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs).  IBCLCs work with employers to provide guidance and technical assistance as they establish workplace lactation programs.  They advocate for policies to protect and support breastfeeding families at the local, state and national levels.  IBCLCs work directly with new mothers, helping them to enjoy the satisfaction of reaching their own goals. States USLCA President Laurie Beck, “IBCLCs support the mother’s goals. We work with the entire health care team and in our communities to be sure that mothers have an easier time with breastfeeding.”  

 IBCLCs are the only health care professionals who specialize in, and are credentialed in, lactation management. More than 11,000 IBCLCs are available nationwide, working in hospitals, community-based clinics, government agencies, and private practice.    

 For more information about the Surgeon General’s Call to Action, visit http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/breastfeeding/.  For more information about IBCLCs or to find an IBCLC in your area, visit www.uslca.org.

Major New Commitment to Hospital Breastfeeding Support

Monday, December 26, 2011, by Joy

 

Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest integrated health care system caring for mothers and babies, announced today its commitment to support breastfeeding as a measure of hospital quality and a key strategy in preventing childhood obesity. By 2013, its 29 hospitals that offer maternal and child health services will be designated as Baby-Friendly, and/or participate in The Joint Commission’s Perinatal Core Measures program, which includes a measure of exclusive breastfeeding at discharge.
The announcement came at the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) inaugural summit in Washington, DC. PHA is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization led by some of the nation’s most respected health and childhood obesity experts. It was created in 2010 in conjunction with — but independent from — First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! effort to bring together public, private and nonprofit leaders to broker meaningful commitments and develop strategies to end childhood obesity.
In January, The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding called on health care providers to ensure that maternity care practices are fully supportive of breastfeeding; Kaiser Permanente has answered that call. USBC applauds the leadership and commitment of Kaiser Permanente to the health and well-being of the mothers and babies it serves.

United States Breastfeeding Committee
2025 M Street, NW, Suite 800 ♦ Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202/367-1132 ♦ Fax: 202/367-2132
E-mail: office@usbreastfeeding.org

Fair Starts Thursday; We’ll Be There!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011, by Ronda

ECABS will again host a booth at the Pensacola Interstate Fair for nursing moms and their babies. We will be in the same area as last year, along the back side of the kiddie area. We are still looking for volunteers to staff the booth. If you are interested, please go to this LINK TO VOLUNTEER. We have a number of supporters and we have donations of diapers, wipes, etc. from last year that are still available. The big news this year is we will have our own two tents that together will provide the same space that we had last year! We are so excited about how our booth has been used and look forward to more opportunities in the future. By next month we should have 501(c)3 status as well!!

Impressive Video from Canadian Nursing is Normal campaign

Wednesday, October 12, 2011, by Joy

I invite you to view our World Breastfeeding Week Video (Canada) :
http://www.allaiterpartout.com/p/diaporama.html

This is the first Nursing is Normal video in both French and English (the first to be produced outside the USA).

Ghislaine Reid, BA (Translation 1981), LLL (1990), IBCLC(2002)

Risks of Not Breastfeeding-New ILCA Publication

Thursday, September 15, 2011, by Lynette

This manageable publication (8 printed pages, plus a citation list of 120 research articles in the reference section) puts at your fingertips the evidence-base demonstrating breastfeeding as the biologic norm, and a public health imperative.  It puts — all into one place — an easy-to-understand explanation of the latest relevant and credible research regarding breastfeeding and human lactation. This will be a must-have for IBCLC practitioners: for their clinical work, and for use with colleagues, administrators and policy-makers.

Sections include:  unique components of breastmilk,  long- and short-term maternal and infant health outcomes, hazards of formula and bottle-feeding, and financial consequences of not breastfeeding.

 This long-anticipated evidence-based document is a review, revision and complete update of ILCA’s three popular “Summary of Hazards of Infant Formula” publications. Combined and updated now as “Risks of Not Breastfeeding,”  this is a must-have resource.

ILCA website for this publication: http://www.ilca.org/i4a/ams/amsstore/category.cfm?category_id=9

Press Release: USLCA announces Orphan drug designation obtained for Domperidone in the US

Thursday, September 15, 2011, by Joy

United States Lactation Consultant Association  <uslcaonline.org>

September 09, 2011

Over the last few months, USLCA has been working in conjunction with Dr. Thomas Hale from the Infant Risk Center at Texas Tech University towards obtaining approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of Domperidone for breastfeeding mothers experiencing insufficient breastmilk. Clinicians in the US have long been unable to (or only with difficulty) offer this option to selected mothers experiencing insufficient milk production. The first step in this process was to obtain orphan drug status for Domperidone. The Orphan Drug Designation program provides orphan status to drugs and biologics which are defined as those intended for the safe and effective treatment, diagnosis or prevention of rare diseases/disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. The approval of an orphan designation does not alter the standard regulatory requirements and process for obtaining marketing approval. Safety and efficacy must still be established through adequate and well controlled studies, but the orphan status qualifies for grants to conduct such studies. The FDA granted orphan drug status to domperidone for “treatment of hypoprolactinemia in breastfeeding mothers, and in some hypoprolactinemic conditions following the use of cabergoline or bromocriptine in mothers who wish to return to breastfeeding.”  Once the required studies are conducted, they are submitted to the FDA for final marketing approval. USLCA and Dr. Hale are beginning work on the next stage of this process which is to apply for grants to conduct the FDA required clinical trials with the hope of eventually obtaining marketing approval for Domperidone. Dr. Hale has been instrumental in collecting the required information and filing the application for orphan drug status. His intense work and command of the subject were invaluable in making it this far. While the process for FDA approval of the use of Domperidone is a lengthy one, we are well on our way to hopefully being able to provide this option for the mothers who may need it so desperately.
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