Breastfeeding-Friendly Erie County: Establishing the New York State Breastfeeding Friendly Practice Designation

Primary care providers play an important role in encouraging and counseling pregnant and postpartum women to successfully breastfeed.

One objective of this 1-year grant was to establish the Breastfeeding Friendly Practice Designation criteria and process to identify and designate at least 5 primary care practices as New York State Breastfeeding Friendly Practices in a high-need, racially/ethnically diverse, urban county in New York with very low prevalence of breastfeeding initiation, exclusivity, and duration.

A partnership between the New York State Department of Health and the P(2) Collaborative of Western New York and United Way of Buffalo & Erie County's Healthy Start Healthy Future for All Coalition facilitated the development of the New York State Ten Steps to a Breastfeeding Friendly Practice, accompanying implementation guide, designation criteria, and model office policies. Practice staff and providers received on-site training and materials and participated in a virtual learning network to share their experiences, celebrate successes, and overcome challenges in implementing system changes. Practice staff completed a self-assessment survey at baseline and after implementation of the Ten Steps and submitted their written office breastfeeding policy for review.

Fourteen practices met the criteria for designation and were recognized by the New York State Health Commissioner.

The number of practices designated as Breastfeeding Friendly far exceeded the grant objective. Future efforts are directed at expanding this initiative statewide and determining the impact of the designation on breastfeeding outcomes.