Breastfeeding Exclusive Spring 2019 - ENRICH
ENRICH Carolinas Project Update
Funded by The Duke Endowment, the ENRICH Carolinas project is currently providing breastfeeding and quality improvement technical assistance to 19 hospital communities in North Carolina and South Carolina as they improve their maternity care practices through the implementation of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.
After an inspirational and engaging in-person learning collaborative meeting at the end of 2018, hospitals are now having a second site visit and workday with their coaching dyad for continued progress along their journey to improved care and better health outcomes. The shared group learning continues via project-wide webinars and an online community forum. The most recent webinar focused on how to navigate and manage the change process at the organizational and individual levels.
Each hospital community in the project will receive community training in breastfeeding-friendly child care and prenatal breastfeeding education. The first child care community training occurred in Columbus county and was successfully organized in coordination with the regional Infant Toddler Specialist and the NC DHHS Nutrition Program Consultant. Infant/ Toddler teachers and administrative representatives from 3 child care facilities were in attendance as well as a Smart Start Early Childhood Consultant. The first prenatal education training will be held at the end of May.
Thanks to the recent funding from the BCBSNC, we are now able to help eligible hospitals in this project with select fees toward Baby-Friendly designation. This added support helps to remove financial barriers for some facilities. We are proud of the work being done within each of these communities and looking forward to sharing more as updates arise.