1: Leadership Support for Breastfeeding (In Progress)
Celebration:
Hampton Roads benefits from a strong statewide policy environment that affirms the right to breastfeed in public and private spaces. Virginia’s existing legal protections create an important foundation upon which local leadership can build more visible and coordinated breastfeeding support across the region.
What They’re Already Doing:
- Operating within a state that legally protects the right to breastfeed
- Leveraging the Virginia Values Act as a policy foundation
- Beginning conversations about identifying regional champions
- Aligning local efforts with broader state breastfeeding priorities
Measures:
- Your community has a signed proclamation and/or policies that include action steps to support all the steps to becoming a Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community. Proclaim every 3 years. (1i)
- Your community routinely shares the signed proclamation/policies via social media and other local media outlets.
- Your community ensures that local media outlets host an annual discussion with breastfeeding experts on this issue.
- Your community distributes a copy of the Ten Steps designation and the local policy/proclamation at least annually, ideally during World Breastfeeding Week or National Breastfeeding Month.
Step 2: Welcoming Atmosphere for Breastfeeding Families (In Progress)
Celebration:
Hampton Roads has an established, multidisciplinary coalition that brings together clinical providers, researchers, community-based professionals, and advocates. This strong collaborative base creates a welcoming environment for breastfeeding families and positions the region well for deeper clinical and community integration.
What They’re Already Doing:
- Maintaining an active coalition of doulas, IBCLCs, CLCs, hospital staff, and researchers
- Building partnerships across community and healthcare sectors
- Beginning to strengthen connections with OB, pediatric, and MFM practices
- Leveraging existing hospital data collection efforts
Measures:
- Your community has posted breastfeeding “Welcome” signage next to the community’s welcome signs or in other prominent locations.
- Your community displays a breastfeeding “Welcome” seal/logo on community websites and/or social media, or makes flyers available at visitor centers.
- Your community enforces federal or state laws that support public breastfeeding.(e.g., North Carolina law states that mothers have the right to breastfeed anywhere they are legally allowed to be)
Step 3: Support from Health Leadership (In Progress)
Celebration:
Health-focused breastfeeding education is already reaching families in Hampton Roads through coalition-led outreach and resource development. Despite capacity constraints, the coalition has maintained a consistent presence in community education and information sharing.
What They’re Already Doing:
- Developing family-facing breastfeeding materials through 757 Breastfeeds
- Providing education that supports families before and after hospital discharge
- Sustaining community outreach despite limited staffing and resources
- Maintaining regional visibility around breastfeeding support
Measures:
- The Designating Team or your local Breastfeeding Coalition identifies the health leaders in your community, such as the local health department director, WIC office director, hospital board members, or head nurse at the local hospital. (3i)
- The defined health leaders have confirmed and approved the World Health Organization’s definition of optimal infant feeding, or an equivalent, and this definition has been disseminated to healthcare providers and community leaders.
Step 4: Information During Pregnancy (In Progress)
Celebration:
The coalition has identified prenatal education consistency as a key priority and is actively assessing variation across hospitals and outpatient settings. This clarity around gaps creates momentum for targeted improvement efforts within OB and pediatric care.
What They’re Already Doing:
- Identifying inconsistencies in prenatal breastfeeding support
- Prioritizing outreach to OB and pediatric providers
- Assessing hospital-based breastfeeding practices
- Exploring quality-improvement models to strengthen prenatal education
Measures:
- Healthcare systems in your community distribute non-commercial materials about the benefits of breastfeeding and the risks of unnecessary formula use to faith-based and community organizations (4i)
- Community-based organizations distribute non-commercial materials about the benefits of breastfeeding and the risks of unnecessary formula use.
- Distributed materials are culturally appropriate and reflective of the population served.
- Distributed materials include information on where to access breastfeeding support as needed.
Step 5: Breastfeeding-Friendly Healthcare (Planning)
Celebration:
Hampton Roads is actively mapping its lactation support landscape and identifying opportunities for coordination across regions. Existing provider lists and regional knowledge offer a strong starting point for more integrated and accessible breastfeeding-friendly healthcare systems.
What They’re Already Doing:
- Maintaining regional lists of IBCLCs, CLCs, doulas, and lactation providers
- Recognizing workforce shortages as a structural challenge
- Sharing information across regions to fill immediate gaps
- Laying groundwork for a future statewide directory
Measures:
- All maternity care centers in your community are designated Baby-Friendly or hold an equivalent state-level designation that supports breastfeeding. (5i)
- At least 50% of prenatal and postnatal outpatient care clinics in your community have applied for or documented breastfeeding-friendly support and training.
Step 6 Availability of Lactation Support (In Progress)
Celebration:
Previous business-engagement efforts demonstrate that community-based breastfeeding support is feasible and valued. Lessons learned from earlier outreach provide a roadmap for relaunching more coordinated and visible support across regions.
What They’re Already Doing:
- Drawing on past business-outreach experience through Nurture
- Identifying regional leaders to support future engagement
- Exploring low-burden tools like signage and symbols
- Learning from successful models used by peer organizations
Measures:
- Your community has established or confirmed the availability of active breastfeeding support groups.(6i)
- Your community has established or confirmed the availability of Lactation Consultants: International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) and other skilled lactation support services.
- Make a comprehensive resource list of the lactation support (support groups, IBCLCs, classes, etc) in your community.
- Special attention is given to ensuring that lactation support services meet the needs of marginalized and underserved communities.
- At least one in-person or virtual meeting has been held annually to coordinate breastfeeding support efforts in your community.
- Your community has communicated information about available lactation support services to the public at least once annually.
Step 7: Welcoming Businesses and Organizations (In Progress)
Celebration:
Awareness of infant-feeding marketing practices has increased among clinicians, particularly following the formula shortage. This shared experience creates an opening for broader conversations about breastfeeding-friendly business practices and community protections.
What They’re Already Doing:
- Recognizing formula marketing as an issue impacting families
- Applying lessons learned during the formula shortage
- Preparing to integrate Code-aligned education into coalition onboarding
- Identifying emergency preparedness as a related priority
Measures:
- Your community has calculated the number of businesses needed to meet the Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community requirement: 1,118
- At least one business for every 500 people in your community has signed a form stating they welcome breastfeeding in their place of business.
- These businesses display welcome signs or a “Breastfeeding Welcome” logo.
Step 8: Adherence to the Code of Marketing (In Progress)
Celebration:
While coalition efforts have focused primarily on infrastructure and partnerships, there is growing recognition of the importance of workplace and business engagement in breastfeeding support. This awareness positions the region to integrate Code-aligned practices into existing education efforts.
What They’re Already Doing:
- Centering coalition work on systems-building and clinical partnerships
- Identifying opportunities to integrate workplace breastfeeding education
- Exploring partnerships with large regional employers
- Preparing to adapt existing breastfeeding-at-work toolkits
Measures:
- Healthcare facilities in your community provide breastfeeding education and support to parents without promoting commercial infant formula through ads or free samples.(8i)
- Locally-controlled grocery stores in your community do not promote commercial infant or related toddler formula through preferential shelf placement or ads.
- Locally-controlled food markets and convenience stores in your community do not promote commercial infant or related toddler formula through preferential shelf placement or ads.
- Locally-controlled pharmacies in your community do not promote commercial infant or related toddler formula through preferential shelf placement or ads.
- Non-locally controlled grocery stores, food markets, convenience stores, and pharmacies in your community are encouraged to display lactation support information near infant formula/foods and to prevent local advertising of formula.
Step 9: Workplace Accommodation for Lactating Employees (In Progress)
Celebration:
Universities and school systems are emerging as promising partners for breastfeeding education and workplace support. Existing relationships with higher education institutions provide a pathway for expanding breastfeeding-friendly employment practices.
What They’re Already Doing:
- Building on Nurture’s past outreach to school systems
- Engaging university partners through coalition membership
- Identifying nursing and public health programs as entry points
- Planning for broader workplace education as capacity grows
Measures:
- The current state of the laws concerning mandated business support for breastfeeding is made available to all Chamber of Commerce members, similar business groups, and other businesses (e.g., U.S. Dept. of labor materials provided by local breastfeeding organization or health department) annually.(9i)
- The Chamber of Commerce, or a similar organization, disseminates the US Business Case for Breastfeeding, WABA maternity care, or equivalent materials annually.
Step 10: Education Systems Include Breastfeeding in Curriculum (In Progress)
Celebration:
Hampton Roads has invested years in building a stable coalition structure and is now well-positioned for statewide alignment. New state leadership and a shared focus on emergency preparedness—especially critical for coastal regions—are energizing the next phase of work.
What They’re Already Doing:
- Sustaining coalition operations and meeting rhythms for seven years
- Supporting enthusiastic new state breastfeeding leadership
- Elevating infant feeding during emergencies as a regional priority
- Building shared resource libraries and best-practice repositories
Measures:
- The local School District or Department of Education provides books and/or images that illustrate breastfeeding as the norm.(10i)
- Breastfeeding-friendly curricula are introduced at all levels of education.
- Your community’s preschools and early education centers include breastfeeding-friendly curricula in their programs.
- Your public school system has introduced breastfeeding-friendly curricula at all educational levels.
- Universities in your community include breastfeeding-friendly curricula in relevant courses or programs.