It
Takes a Village
Although World Breastfeeding
Week
has come and gone and National
Breastfeeding Month is coming to an end, we all have a role to play in supporting
breastfeeding families year-round. Chances are, at some point, each of us will know a mom who wants to breastfeed
to keep herself and her baby healthy, it might be your daughter, sister, wife, neighbor, employee or
friend.
In 2015, 75% of Clinton County babies started off
breastfeeding but by the time their 1st birthday came around that
number dropped to just over 20%. We know that moms can face barriers along
their breastfeeding journey so the Clinton County
Breastfeeding Coalition set out to remove some of those
obstacles to helps moms reach their goals while normalizing breastfeeding in
the community.
Pharmacy
Toolkits - The coalition also conducted mini focus groups
with local pharmacists and learned that they
received very little training in school about breastfeeding and medication and
would benefit from additional resources. We created toolkits to assist with
counseling breastfeeding mothers. The kit includes a copy of Dr. Thomas Hale’s
book, Medication and Mother’s Milk, a
link to an online resource, LactMed, as well as
a telephone number to call. We also provided each pharmacy with a small sign
letting patients know the pharmacist could help if they had a question about
breastfeeding while taking prescription or over the counter (OTC)
medications.
The take away is this: a little bit of encouragement
from each of us can go a long way. The professional work we do to support moms
is important, but changing the culture happens with the whole community!
To see what breastfeeding looks like in Clinton
County visit: http://www.clintonhealth.org/pdf%20files/CCProfilesInPublicHealthFall2013.pdf
