We are excited to share Breastfeed Durham’s Implementation Team Member Jess’s experience connecting with pharmacies in Durham.
Why Pharmacies Are a Powerful Place to Talk About Breastfeeding
Pharmacies are one of the most consistent touchpoints in a family’s healthcare journey. For pregnant and lactating parents, they are often the final stop before starting a medication—sometimes during moments of stress, illness, or uncertainty. Pharmacists are uniquely positioned as trusted, accessible health professionals who regularly answer questions about medication safety, side effects, and dosing.
That makes pharmacies a natural (and critical) point of intervention for breastfeeding education. Questions about medication safety while lactating come up daily, yet community awareness of evidence-based resources—like the Infant Risk Center or local breastfeeding support organizations—remains low. Pharmacies function as community health triage: they text, call, and interact with patients far more frequently than many providers. Even a short interaction can help a parent advocate for their own medical safety while lactating.
For a nonprofit focused on first food equity, being present in pharmacies isn’t about replacing clinical judgment—it’s about complementing it. Free, evidence-based resources can save pharmacists time, support informed decision-making, and ensure lactating parents aren’t left guessing or told to unnecessarily stop breastfeeding.
The Outreach Process
The objective of this outreach effort was simple: visit pharmacies across Durham, drop off Breastfeed Durham pharmacy rack cards, share our organization’s purpose, and begin conversations that could eventually lead to partnerships, particularly with private or independent pharmacies.
Over the course of the outreach:
- 60 total pharmacies were visited
- Each site was offered 30 rack cards and a rack holder
- Conversations were held primarily with pharmacy technicians and pharmacists when available
- No formal business partnerships were secured—yet
Visits were conducted in person, which proved essential for relationship building, even though timing and workflow varied significantly by site. When pharmacies were busy, messaging had to be concise and respectful of the environment. When things were calmer, conversations could go deeper, often touching on real patient scenarios, breastfeeding stigma, and systemic barriers within pharmacy systems.
What We Experienced: Wins and Challenges
Wins
- Relationship building mattered. By the end of the outreach, multiple pharmacy technicians recognized the organization—remembering the rack cards, the Breastfeed Durham shirt, or previous visits. That kind of familiarity is foundational for community partnerships.
- Increased awareness of BFFC in Durham. Many pharmacists and techs had never heard of local breastfeeding support resources; hence, the outreach helped connect the dots among medication safety, lactation, and community-based support.
- High interest in evidence-based tools. The crowd favorite was consistently the Infant Risk Center, especially because parents and providers can call for free (Mon–Fri, 8am–3pm). Real-time access to experts resonated strongly.
- Expanded understanding of what Breastfeed Durham offers. Conversations often moved beyond education to highlight connection to community resources—support groups, referrals, and local services.
- Emotional moments reinforced the need. One pharmacy technician, pregnant at the time, teared up while describing how meaningful it was to know these resources existed.
Challenges
- Timing is everything. Identifying the least busy times to visit pharmacies was difficult. When lines were long or phones were ringing, outreach had to be quick and sometimes incomplete.
- Corporate pharmacy limitations. Many corporate pharmacies are not allowed to openly display community resources or form partnerships at an individual store level. For example, a partnership would need to occur at the corporate or national level (e.g., across all Harris Teeter or CVS stores).
- Role confusion. Some pharmacists questioned why they needed the resource from Breastfeed Durham since they could simply tell parents whether a medication was safe or not. This opened discussions about liability, evolving evidence, and the value of specialized, up-to-date lactation pharmacology resources.
- Skepticism and defensiveness. A few pharmacists, particularly those who were parents themselves, initially felt insulted, interpreting the outreach as questioning their competence. These conversations often shifted once it was clear the goal was to support, not replace, their practice.
- Gender dynamics showed up. Male pharmacists were more often less interested at first, while most female pharmacists were more receptive once the purpose was explained.
- Decision-making barriers. Frequently, staff shared that they were not authorized to display materials or discuss partnerships. One question that often goes unasked—but is critical moving forward—is: Who actually makes this decision?
Key Takeaways
- Pharmacists are powerful community health gatekeepers. They are often the first—or last—professional a lactating parent speaks to before making a medication decision.
- Awareness must come before partnership. Many pharmacies were hesitant because the concept of a nonprofit advocating for breastfeeding was unfamiliar. As awareness grows, partnership opportunities are more likely to follow.
- Private vs. corporate pharmacies require different strategies. Private pharmacies may have more flexibility but fewer resources, while corporate pharmacies offer scale but require national-level advocacy.
- Advocacy work is situational. Timing, environment, and the person in front of you matter. Sometimes the most effective move is simply leaving resources and asking for an email follow-up.
Next Steps
- Revisit private pharmacies as potential case studies. Tracking distribution metrics and engagement could help build a compelling case for broader adoption.
- Engage pharmacy schools. Pharmacy students may have more leverage within corporate systems and are often eager to engage in community-based advocacy. Outreach to pharmacy schools could become a major focus area.
- Clarify decision-makers. Future outreach will prioritize identifying who has authority over partnerships and the display of community resources.
- Continue the relationship-building first outreach. Recognition, rapport, and trust, especially with pharmacy technicians, remain essential building blocks.
This outreach reinforced a simple truth: pharmacies are not just medication dispensers. They are community hubs. By continuing to meet pharmacists and technicians where they are, Breastfeed Durham can help ensure lactating parents receive the evidence-based support they deserve, one conversation at a time.
Jess’s Stories from the Field
A Conversation That Shifted Perspective
Early in the outreach, one of the most hesitant responses I encountered came from a pharmacist I initially expected to be immediately receptive. As I began my usual explanation—who Breastfeed Durham is, why we were visiting pharmacies, and how the rack cards were intended to support families—she asked pointedly, “So you think I’m not talking to parents about medication safety when lactating?”
I paused and clarified that I believed the opposite to be true: that when parents disclosed they were lactating, pharmacists were already doing critical work to ensure medication safety. I explained that the rack cards were meant to complement that care—offering families a take-home resource for follow-up questions, reducing some of the repeated phone calls pharmacists field, and supporting parents who may not disclose lactation status at the counter but still want to make informed decisions later.
Her expression shifted from confusion to a small smile. “Oh wow,” she said. “That’s actually a great option for parents who are trying to remember so much and weigh so many health choices.” We were then able to talk about the options on the rack cards and some of the other work that Breastfeed Durham had accomplished in the community. She accepted the cards and thanked me.
Moments like this underscore the role of advocacy as alignment rather than opposition. When intentions are clearly communicated, shared goals—supporting informed, empowered families—become visible.
“You’re the Breastfeeding Card Lady”
Toward the end of the outreach, I began noticing something unexpected: the same pharmacy technician appearing at multiple locations within the same company. At one visit, as I approached the counter, the technician suddenly gasped and said, “Wait—I know you! You’re the breastfeeding card lady. I want more of those!”
It was a joyful, affirming moment. Recognition didn’t come from formal partnerships or signed agreements, but from repeated, respectful presence. That interaction captured the heart of this work: advocacy lives in relationships. Trust builds visit by visit, conversation by conversation, until community members begin to see themselves as part of the mission.