STEP 6: Community chest/breastfeeding support groups and lactation services are fully available, including peer-to-peer lactation support providers, International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs), and other skilled chest/breastfeeding support.
As with everything BFFC does, this work follows a universal access model: it expands the reach of services that are open to every family. No service described here is denied to anyone on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, religion or creed, age, sex, pregnancy or lactation status, sexual orientation, gender identity, family structure, primary language, ability or disability, veteran or military status, or socio-economic status.
Ten Steps to a Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community
Breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding support must extend beyond the clinic. Therefore, there must be active community support for referral and independent action by lactating families to find the support they need. Once these are established, all clinics and hospitals should be called upon to provide active referral. Active collaboration between health care providers and community lactation support entities is needed to support this Step.
Measure:
- Confirmation that such services are active or being created that would serve the community, with attention to meeting the needs of various racial/ethnic groups.
- At least one in-person or virtual meeting has been held and at least one communication to the public on this mutual effort are documented annually.
Suggested Approaches:
- Designating Group may facilitate first meeting.
- Designating Group reviews action for adherence.
Breastfeed Durham, BFFC’s pilot project, piloted Step 6 starting in 2018: training peer counselors and IBCLCs, building an independent website that lists every support group and clinic by the day it meets, holding an annual convening of providers and advocates, and creating affinity coalitions so Black, Hispanic, LGBTQ+, and Asian American and Pacific Islander families could find culturally specific support. In 2025 the effort added the Lactation Collaborative, offering free and low cost lactation care for uninsured and underinsured families. Read the full story at breastfeeddurham.org.