Advocacy 

We believe that supporting infant feeding choices involves more than clinical care. Family support, peer groups, social media, cultural norms, and health care systems all play a vital role in supporting new families. The Milk Clinic is committed to creating a culture supportive of all feeding choices through project work.

Here is some of what we have been up to:

The Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) is a World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF global program to designate hospitals and health centers as meeting a high level of evidence based infant feeding care practices. It aims to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, as well as to provide safe alternatives when necessary or chosen. The Milk Clinic is dedicated to supporting the BFI.

  • Providers at The Milk Clinic have participated in the Penticton BFI process since 2019 and in the Interior Health Baby Friendly Committee which is committed to rolling out the BFI across the region. In 2024 Penticton was the 1st hospital in Interior Health, and 3rd in BC to achieve Baby Friendly designation! The Penticton BFI committee has set many policies and resources to be region wide so other hospitals will have a more streamlined process to certify.

  • Providers at The Milk Clinic assisted in the development of a breastfeeding support algorithm to be used by care providers in the first days postpartum. This has been adoped into the Breastfeeding Physicians Guide by the Systems Change Project.

  • We continue to participate in local and regional Baby Friendly evends and educational workshops to learn, share knowledge and connect with other care providers.

Provincial Committee work is important to attain more funding and resources for new families. The Milk Clinic is involved with the British Columbia Lactation Consultants Association (BCLCA) and the Provincial Infant and Young Child Feeding Committee (PIYCFC).

The Milk Clinic is committed to connecting and promoting IBCLCs. Communication and connection across care teams is an essential component of health care delivery.

  • The Milk Clinic runs a monthly Peer Review for Midwife-IBCLCs across the province to review challenging cases, issues in lactation care and review the latest research.

  • Tiffany is an Adjunct Professor at the UBC school of midwivery and teaches an infant feeding class to all first year midwifery students

The Breastfeeding Systems Change Project, funded by the Vancouver Foundation, aims to change and improve the level of support for breastfeeding within hospitals, health centres and the community. It involves a number of projects to follow up on recommendations from the Journey Mapping Report. The Milk Clinic has been involved with the following work: