Change Package Your Team Name: Northeast Florida Nurse Family Partnership Topic Area: Breastfeeding Name of the Intervention: Peer counseling to clients with intention to breastfeed. Primary Driver: Hire a previous NFP client with personal breastfeeding experience to attend breastfeeding classes and become a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor to provide peer counseling to any client with intention to breastfeed. The peer counselor can link the family to additional supports as needed.

Definition of the Intervention Breastfeeding peer counseling is the provision of basic breastfeeding information and support from mothers who have personal experience to other mothers with whom they share different characterisctics such as socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and language (Loving Support Model: United State Department of Agriculture, 2015). Peer counselors are known to be knowledgeable resources available to WIC clients , they are familiar with questions from a new breastfeeding mother, and they know when to refer mothers to other resources during difficult times (Loving Support Model: United State Department of Agriculture, 2015). The breastfeeding peer counselor holds support group meetings weekly or bi-weekly. The support also includes telephone one on one interaction for clients who are unable to attend the group meetings. Although the Loving Support Model was developed for WIC clients, not all your clients will be WIC recipients. You may want to clarify the second paragraph on this slide. The last paragraph on this slide and the description on the next slide are redundant…you may want to delete the last paragraph on this page.

Description of the Intervention   The breastfeeding peer counselor holds support group meetings to provide mother-to-mother support on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. The support also includes one-to-one telephone counseling for clients who are unable to attend the group meetings or who need additional support. The peer counselor utilized data collection form from CDC/NACCHO Breastfeeding Initiative (Next slide)

How is the intervention carried out? NFP Nurses refer clients with 30-33 weeks gestation and intention to breastfeed to the peer counselor. A facebook page is created to promote and encourage participation in support group for women with intention to breastfeed. The peer counselor contacts the clients, introduces self as an alumni of NFP, discusses her role as a peer counselor, informs them about the support goup including 1:1 telephone support if needed, and the ability to provide linkage to additional supports or resources as needed. The peer counselor coordinates the meetings: schedules dates, times, and places; distributes flyers; and posts invites on the facebook page. The support group discussion include benefits of breastfeeding, challenges, how to overcome the challenges, and the availability of additional supports or resources. The peer counselor provides 1:1 telephone discussion to clients that are not able to attend group meetings. The peer counselor monitors participation of clients and effectiveness of peer counseling.

Evidence that the intervention is effective At the begining of the intervention, there were 2 participants at the support group meetings. As the intervention continued, the number of participants increased to 4. The peer counselor has provided services to 15 participants either through support group or 1:1 telephone discussion. Out of 15, 1 client breastfed for 2 weeks, and 4 others are currently exclusively breastfeeding their 2mths, 3mths, 4mths, and 5mths old babies. It is significant that the Facebook page attracted women who are not NFP clients to the support group.

References/ Inspiration (if applicable) Florida Department of Health- Duval County WIC – Peer Breastfeeding Counselor Training United States Department of Agriculture: Loving Support: About WIC Breastfeeding Counseling. Retrieved in 2015 CDC/NACCHO Breastfeeding Initiative.