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 breastfeeding/chestfeeding 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/chestfeeding, as well as to provide safe alternatives when necessary or chosen. The Milk Clinic is dedicated to supporting the BFI.

  • Core team member for Penticton Regional Hospital BFI committee. Penticton was chosen to participate in a National Collaborative of hospitals to achieve designation.

  • Penticton was the 1st hospital in Interior Health, and 3rd in BC to achieve Baby Friendly designation. We have set many policies and resources to be region wide so other hospitals will have a more streamlined process to certify. The Milk Clinic also participates in the Interior Health Baby Friendly Committee which is committed to rolling out the BFI across the region.

  • The Milk Clinic assisted in the development of a breastfeeding/chestfeeding support algorithm to be used by care providers in the first days postpartum.

  • The Milk Clinic and BFI committee has drafted an IBCLC job description for the Health Authority to allow for the hiring of lactation consultants.

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.

  • The Milk Clinic supports other hospitals and regions in developing Lactation Consultant programs. The Milk Clinic is currently working with four hospitals in the province to hire IBCLCs.

The Breastfeeding Systems Change Project, funded by the Vancouver Foundation, aims to change and improve the level of support for breastfeeding/chestfeeding 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:

  • Supporting physicians with breastfeeding/ chestfeeding resources. This project started with a roundtable of healthcare providers to assess their needs followed by a report outlining the recommendations. Follow-up work has included:

    • the development of a care pathway for physicians and primary care providers,

    • content development for Perinatal Services BC HUB,

    • and creation of a “Baby Friendly Office Guide”

  • Working with Healthy From the Start to increase Breastfeeding Content in their program, including:

    • virtual prenatal class,

    • infographic,

    • wrote and directed educational videos,

    • IBCLC position on their phone-line

  • Developing competencies and skills checklists in accordance with the Baby Friendly Initiative for the Health Authority.