The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) was recently contracted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create a library of images of how communities across the U.S. support breastfeeding mothers and babies. As part of this effort, USBC offered a one-time sub-contracting opportunity for state, territorial, and tribal breastfeeding coalitions to identify and showcase exemplary local commitment to supporting breastfeeding mothers and babies, utilizing the services of a professional photojournalist.
The Landscape of Breastfeeding Support program reviewed 39 proposals before choosing eight coalitions from across the country to be awarded sub-contracts. The funded photo project “stories” are summarized below. Download the full stories at:
http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/Portals/0/Coalitions/Landscape-of-BF-Support-Full-Stories.pdf
The photos will be featured in the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding, as well as at launch events for the Call to Action. All photos will be archived and made available via an online file sharing system, allowing all state/territorial/tribal breastfeeding coalitions to benefit from the program.
Utah Breastfeeding Coalition
Utah Opens Its Doors to Breastfeeding Mothers
Community Support in Action
As part of a recent campaign, the Utah Breastfeeding Coalition (UBC), in partnership with La Leche League of Utah, invited and encouraged local businesses to display the International Breastfeeding Symbol as a demonstration of support for breastfeeding mothers. UBC will showcase the campaign’s success by photographing the Symbol in some of its more than 70 locations across Salt Lake County. The images will be used to create posters and calendars as well as promotional material for the 6th Annual Breastfeeding Café to be held in August 2011.
Nebraska Breastfeeding Coalition
Making a Difference: A Decade of Dedication to Breastfeeding Support in One Nebraska Community
Community Support in Action
The Nebraska Breastfeeding Coalition is proud to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of MilkWorks, an organization committed to providing breastfeeding education and support, regardless of a mother’s ability to pay for services. MilkWorks offers clinical care for breastfeeding mothers and serves as a resource for health care providers in an easily accessible building designed to facilitate interaction between staff, clients, and their families. The photographic documentation of this successful community breastfeeding center will illustrate the hard work and dedication of the MilkWorks founders and staff.
Indiana Black Breastfeeding Coalition (with the Indiana Breastfeeding Alliance and the Indiana Perinatal Network)
The Naomi and Ruth (NAR) Project
Community Support in Action
The Naomi and Ruth Project was initiated in an African American church setting after several young women began breastfeeding their babies in church. A survey discovered that many of the church’s elder women had breastfed themselves and were happy and willing to offer advice and support to breastfeeding moms. This discovery sparked a new mentoring relationship in the community. The Indiana Black Breastfeeding Coalition plans to document these relationships and the positive impact they have on mothers and their decision to breastfeed.
North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition
Learning More about Nature’s Miracle: Researching Human Milk in North Carolina
Research Support in Action
The North Carolina State University (NCSU) laboratory is busy performing rigorous human milk research in order to create more accurate guidelines for human milk storage and the safety of human milk donations. The evidence-based discoveries made may lead to less wasted breast milk in NICU, day care, and home environments as scientists realize that the milk possesses a longer shelf life than previous guidelines suggest. By documenting the step-by-step process by which human milk donations are gathered, processed, tested, and distributed, the North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition hopes to create further confirmation of the hard science behind the benefits of human milk.
Louisiana Breastfeeding Coalition
Louisiana Nurse Family Partnership: Reaching the Unlikely Breastfeeders
Health Care Support in Action
The Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) Home Visitor program in Louisiana offers a supportive relationship and trustworthy role model to low-income, first-time moms. The voluntary program matches some of Louisiana’s most unlikely breastfeeders with an RN who meets with the new mother weekly or bi-weekly throughout pregnancy and during the child’s first two years. This relationship provides the specialized support many of these mothers need in order to make confident and informed decisions on behalf of their babies, including infant feeding practices. By photographing the positive outcomes of the NFP program, the Louisiana Breastfeeding Coalition hopes to ensure the value of positive professional-client relationships to help mothers reach their breastfeeding goals.
California Breastfeeding Coalition
The California Breastfeeding Story: Becoming Baby-Friendly
Health Care Support in Action
The California Breastfeeding Coalition (CBC) encourages hospitals to create supportive environments for mothers to exclusively breastfeed their infants through the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) and the California Model Hospital Policies. By documenting the BFHI journey through its many phases – Including discovery, development, dissemination, and designation – and highlighting the BFHI Ten Steps, the coalition hopes to capture behind-the-scenes interactions and compelling moments that express the importance of institutional change in breastfeeding practices.
Florida Breastfeeding Coalition
Get Pumped!
Employment Support in Action
As part of The Business Case for Breastfeeding, the Florida Breastfeeding Coalition (FBC) has developed the Breastfeeding Friendly Employer Award. Businesses, hospitals, and schools that provide pumping areas, support, and education services to employees can apply and are awarded gold, silver, and bronze levels. FBC will document these businesses, the services they provide, and the mothers and babies who benefit from them, in an effort to motivate other employers to “Get Pumped!”
Inter Tribal Council of Arizona
Employers for a Healthy New Generation
Employment Support in Action
The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (ITCA) will showcase successful workplace lactation support by documenting four women – each representing a different tribal organization – utilizing support services and the benefits these policies provide for the employer. The project will feature mothers bringing their babies to work and taking breaks to pump milk or breastfeed directly at a child care facility, as well as a tribal council meeting. By creating images of Native Americans breastfeeding their babies, the ITCA hopes to reach out to this underrepresented population and encourage implementation of workplace breastfeeding support in other tribes and organizations.
The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) is an independent nonprofit coalition of more than 40 nationally influential professional, educational, and governmental organizations. Representing over half a 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 on USBC, visit www.usbreastfeeding.org.
The state, territorial, and tribal breastfeeding coalitions are multisectoral, grassroots organizations, including representatives from relevant government departments, non-governmental organizations including consumer (parents) groups, and health professional associations. Breastfeeding coalitions have formed independently in all 50 states and in several U.S. territories and tribal organizations. A directory of the coalitions can be found at:
http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/Coalitions/CoalitionsDirectory/tabid/74/Default.aspx
United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)
2025 M Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 367-1132
Fax: (202) 367-2132
The mission of the United States Breastfeeding Committee is to improve the Nation’s health by working collaboratively to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. Donate today!
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