Through the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency works with community partners to support breastfeeding mothers within Southeastern and Mid-City San Diego. 

These efforts include:

• Providing breastfeeding trainings to home visiting staff, community health clinic staff, and community residents to become Certified Lactation Educators.
• Assisting in coordination for new lactation support services, including a physical space where lactation specialists can provide client and peer-to-peer support.
• Working with community health centers to enhance breastfeeding counseling services and providing supplies such as breast pumps.

Providing a breastfeeding-friendly worksite does not only make sense for babies and moms, it also makes sense for employers. Businesses with lactation policies enjoy lower turnover rates, lower healthcare costs, less absenteeism, and higher employee productivity and morale. Additionally, treating diseases and conditions preventable by breastfeeding costs insurers at least $3.6 billion each year.

WHAT IS A BREASTFEEDING-FRIENDLY WORKSITE?

Breastfeeding-friendly worksites have programs and policies in place that support new moms returning to work. This includes:

• Establishing comfortable and private place for new moms to pump breastmilk or breastfeed;
• Creating a culture of understanding and acceptance for breastfeeding through training, resources, and related activities;
• Enacting policies that support break-time for lactation and educating management; and
• Educating new moms on available resources and the benefits of breastfeeding.

Although nearly 92% of women initiate breastfeeding in California, only 45% are breastfeeding exclusively at three months and the number drops to 27% at six months. Because a childcare provider’s support for breastfeeding significantly affects the duration a working mother can breastfeed, access and availability of breastfeeding-friendly childcare is a critical support system.

BARRIERS TO BREASTFEEDING-FRIENDLY CHILDCARE CENTERS

Research shows that although childcare providers typically have positive attitudes toward breastfeeding, they often lack the knowledge and training on the benefits, storage and handling of breastmilk, as well as how to create a breastfeeding-friendly environment. Inadequate access to breastfeeding-friendly childcare disproportionately impacts low-income families whose economic success is dependent on reliable childcare.

The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) previously partnered with the University of California, San Diego Center for Community Health (UCSD CCH) to provide technical assistance and resources to increase breastfeeding-friendly workplaces in San Diego County. Efforts also included working with childcare centers to increase spaces for breastfeeding/pumping, create breastfeeding-friendly policies, and assist with policy implementation and training in childcare centers. See below for more information and resources.