Advocacy for breastfeeding: making a difference one community at a time

In response to the need for health care professionals skilled in lactation management, a breastfeeding course was developed and taught at the University of Pennsylvania. Since 1995, Nursing 361 has been offered to undergraduate junior and senior students. The aim of this article is to discuss how through coursework, nursing students can provide breastfeeding advocacy and change the breastfeeding culture one community at a time. This article provides guidelines for others to conduct such projects, as well as exemplars to demonstrate how advocacy can change communities. Through development of an advocacy project during the course of a semester, a student learns about his or her identified community and is able to make an impact that often lasts years after his or her project is completed.