Breastfeeding Promotion and Support – Improving Maternity Care Practices project financed solely by Public Prevention and Health Funds

The overarching purpose of this program is to support breastfeeding mothers and support hospitals in promoting breastfeeding as part of national efforts to improve childhood nutrition and address childhood obesity. This program aims to achieve this by increasing support for system level changes in maternity care practices that optimally support breastfeeding through funding an independent, not-for-profit, organization to take actions that align with their mission and ongoing responsibility in partnership with agencies and organizations in other sectors, to enhance the access and quality of maternity care and reduce barriers related to breastfeeding. This FOA seeks to address key actions identified in the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding for the health care system to ensure that maternity care practices are fully supportive of breastfeeding and which cites the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. This FOA will support key evidence- and practice- based policy, environmental, programmatic and infrastructure changes, in hospitals to enable hospitals to successfully implement the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and achieve demonstrated progress in one or more of the following six outcome measures. 1) Increase the number of hospitals in the U.S. that are designated as Baby-Friendly. 2) Increase the proportion of live births (by state) that occur at Baby-Friendly facilities. 3 )Increase the proportion of infants who are breastfed. 4 ) Reduce the proportion of breastfed newborns who receive formula supplementation within the first 2 days of life. 5 ) Increase the prevalence of infants who are exclusively breastfed at 6 months age. 6) Reduce geographic and race/ethnic disparities in rates as measured by items 3-5 and in mPINC survey scores.