The loving support breastfeeding campaign: Awareness and practices of health care providers in Mississippi

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of the national breastfeeding promotion campaign, Loving Support Makes Breastfeeding Work, on health care providers in Mississippi. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: The Mississippi WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program implemented the national Loving Support project for the state. Questionnaires were mailed to all hospitals with obstetric services and WIC clinics and to a random sample of one half of the practicing pediatricians and one third of the practicing family physicians in the state. Participants: Two hundred and two health care providers, including 104 nurses and 98 physicians, responded to the questionnaire. Main Outcome Measures: Health care providers' (a) awareness of the breastfeeding promotion activities in the state; (6) changes in practice in providing breastfeeding advice and referrals to lactation specialists and for breast pumps; and (c) changes in the management of breastfeeding-related problems. Results: A significantly higher proportion of nurses than physicians mentioned breastfeeding benefits to mothers, provided breastfeeding management advice, and referred mothers for breast pumps and to lactation specialists after the campaign. Conclusions: This study showed the positive impact of the campaign on nurses' breastfeeding awareness and practices. More efforts are needed to continue breastfeeding outreach activities for health care providers.