Development of Breastfeeding Education Protocol and Educational Content at UWMC

With clear scientific evidence supporting benefits of breastfeeding, UWMC Lactation Services worked to receive designation as a “Baby Friendly Hospital” in 2009 from the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), a global initiative by the UNICEF and WHO, by fulfilling the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, which serve as guidelines to create the optimal environment for early initiation and continued success of breastfeeding in all newborns. However, as UWMC is up for re-evaluation by BFHI in 2014, UWMC must meet the additional standards regarding prenatal breastfeeding education in order to be re-designated as a Baby Friendly Hospital and maintain its high-quality patient care for the maternal and infant population.

The purpose of this project was to develop a patient education plan and patient education material to supplement the UWMC Infant Feeding Policy and meet the prenatal breastfeeding education standards documented as Step 3 of the UNICEF/WHO Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding guidelines by:

• Identifying education needs of prenatal patients in cooperation from UW Medicine-associated prenatal clinics.
• Designing a protocol for implementing uniform breastfeeding education in all prenatal patients going through care from the UW Medicine network.
• Designing methods for evaluating learning of prenatal breastfeeding education in compliance with BFHI standards.
• Developing breastfeeding education materials that include the required breastfeeding topics from the UNICEF/WHO Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative.

Materials Available

• Poster

---

Project Type(s): MPH Practicum, PH Concentration Poster

Author(s): Mya Kwon

Program(s): Master of Public Health, RDN Training

Year: 2013

Adviser(s):

• Anne Lund