Collective nurturing: Hospitals around Texas combine forces to increase breastfeeding

For many women, the idea of breastfeeding triggers positive connotations -it provides an instant bond between mother and child, it's natural and it's free.

But for some new mothers, the act itself can also produce feelings of frustration, anxiety and aggravation.

That's why both McKinney hospitals and Medical Center of Plano are joining 17 other hospitals and birthing facilities statewide to enhance the notion that breast truly is best.

Headed by the National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality, the Texas 10-Step Star Achiever Breastfeeding Learning Collaborative is a five-year project designed to improve facility environments to better support a mother's choice to breastfeed.

Texas has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the country, with just 13.7 percent of mothers exclusively breastfeeding for at least six months compared to the national average of 30 percent. The project hopes to reverse this trend and will expand to more than 80 facilities in Texas over the next two years.

Other local hospitals participating in the project include Baylor Medical Centers at Carrollton and McKinney and Medical Center of McKinney. The collaborative is funded by the DSHS and the Texas Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. A list of the 20 facilities selected to participate can be found at nichq.org.

"What's driving this project is the need to improve maternity and infant care in birthing facilities," said Mike Montgomery, program director for the Texas WIC, in a release. "We want to make sure we can sustain change by building quality improvement capacity at these facilities. It will start with these first 20 facilities and grow from there."

The collaborative also has to do with overcoming socioeconomic and ethnic beliefs using education, said Tracy Harper, spokeswoman for Medical Center of Plano and the hospital's team leader for the project.

Some cultures, for instance, believe no milk comes in until day two or three and overlook the nutritional value that comes from the colostrum, or "first milk" the baby receives during the first few days after being born.

Through the collaborative, hospitals hope to raise the rate to 35 percent when it comes to breastfeeding at day two of the baby's life, Harper said.

"Mostly what a lot of obstacles really have to do with is moms not having correct information," she said. "We really want to educate them on what we can do to make sure they are successful at breastfeeding and why it's best for baby and mom."

NICHQ is an independent nonprofit organization focused on making children's health and healthcare better through quality improvement. NICHQ was selected to lead this program because of its experience running other projects designed to improve breastfeeding rates, including the national program "Best Fed Beginnings," funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

What distinguishes this project from the rest is the collaboration among hospitals, which will actively share findings and ideas with each other. The project aligns with the Texas 10-Step Program, a statewide effort to improve infant health and increase rates of exclusive breastfeeding.

"Although many women want to breastfeed their infants, many are not successful," said Charlie Homer, NICHQ president and CEO, in a release. "This program will help hospitals give mothers and their infants a greater chance to succeed in their chosen feeding method."

Breastfeeding has multiple health benefits for infants and mothers. For infants, it decreases the incidence and severity of many infectious diseases, reduces mortality and supports neurodevelopment. It also decreases infants' risk of becoming obese later in childhood. For mothers, breastfeeding reduces the risks of breast and ovarian cancers, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease, according to NICHQ.

Since Texas has the second largest population of children in the nation, it has a chance to be a leader in improving breastfeeding rates nationwide, said Elaine Fitzgerald, project manager for the National Initiative for Healthcare Quality and the collaborative.

"Our hope is that looking at how we can help these hospitals to build up practices and assistance will help all mothers," she said. "Because breastfeeding is so challenging and there are so many different factors, initiating breastfeeding within the hospital is just one piece. Working with hospitals is such a critical component to making sure that mothers get the support that they need."

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