ABN Initiatives
It's no secret that our mothers of color in this country deal with a level of inequity that contributes to lower breastfeeding rates, along with other disparities. In Appalachia, this is identified as an even higher issue as the amount of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) IBCLCs are virtually nonexistent in Appalachia. Our minorities have absolutely no help that comes from their trusted community; often not seeking help at all. This is an issue and one that ABN is trying to address. We are awarding a Continuing Education Scholarship specifically for BIPOC breastfeeding advocates. The scholarship is due August 31 of each year, will be awarded at our conference in October, and is awarded up to $1,000. This can be used for a CLC or CLS course, a conference, IBLCE exam fees, or even fees that are outside of breastfeeding but help this person to pursue their breastfeeding efforts i.e. RN licensure fees, etc. If a course is only $100 and the person needs the other $900 for hotel, mileage, it will also be covered - up to $1,000 per person. We will be awarding *at least* two awardees. We plan to continue this as long as we can and are putting a lot of our efforts into trying to close the gap on the barriers to entry into the field.
In addition to the scholarship, ABN board members are devoted to learning more and growing more. We are attending as many racial equity seminars as we can. After our most recent one, we connected with ROSE and ROBE to discuss bringings trainings to the Appalachian area - there will be more information on this to come soon. Our goal is to bring more community based groups to our areas in Appalachia, and also to involve the grandmothers and fathers (partners) into this discussion.
When we first started ABN, our goal was to increase access to care for breastfeeding endeavors. However, we quickly realized this is women's health issue in general. Therefore, we are working on several initiatives, that are constantly growing into new initiatives or subsets of initiatives.
Here's a list of what we are working on currently:
Hospital Education Initiative (all Appalachian states) - A hospital-focused program for nurses and physicians to receive breastfeeding and Appalachian-centered education. Basically, all the evidence-based breastfeeding information they should be hearing + Appalachian culture and barriers associated with this breastfeeding information. We have our first topic completely finished and just submitted for approval CERPS, CEUS, and CMES. This will be available in person and through webinar and is 100% fundraiser funded. We will also have rack cards/youtube channel with information connected to this initiative.
Home Visitor Education Initiative (WV) - A subset of our hospital education initiative, tailored for home visitor programs in the state of WV, as our WV membership has expressed a need. This will provide CEUS for RNs and Social Workers.
Workplace Education Initiative (NC) - Another subset of our hospital education initiative, tailored to businesses in NC - as our NC membership has expressed a need. Discussion is going on to include awards for breastfeeding-friendly workplaces.
Empower Mom Movement (all Appalachian states) - A social media campaign focusing on giving women a voice in their healthcare choices. The main focus is breastfeeding and birth, however the movement is an effort to empower Appalachian women to use their voices in everyday decisions.
After-Hours Breastfeeding Helpline (available to anyone, focus is on Appalachian Ohio in current grant period) - Open 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. - a parent or interested person may call the line during operating hours to speak with a live breastfeeding specialist (CLC, CLS, or IBCLC required). All hotline staff is trained on providing telephone support and is a line for supporting and referring, therefore able to provide lactation support to all of Appalachia through telephone when otherwise may be unavailable - closing the gap in health inequity for breastfeeding support. Through the last grant, we were also able to pay 100% for 20 CLS attendees, with an emphasis on finding a diverse group of breastfeeding advocates to attend the training. All 20 attendees passed, giving Appalachian Ohio 20 new certified lactation specialists, again increasing access to care.
Advanced Clinical Concepts in Lactation - ABN is fundraising to bring this training to Appalachia next Spring, being able to offer either a discounted rate or a free training to more in Appalachia.
Hospital Adoption Program for Baby-Friendly - ABN is working on submitting grant proposals to various entities with the idea of hospitals in metropolitan areas to adopt a rural hospital that is not in competition with each other to work towards baby friendly designation by collaborating and sharing resources that Appalachian hospitals would otherwise have issues with resource availability. This is because currently only 18 out of the 518 baby-friendly hospitals are actually located in an Appalachian region of the United States - only 3.5% - for an area that stretches 13 states. Our purpose is to increase the number of babies born in Baby-Friendly hospitals in Appalachia - again increasing access to care and access to better healthcare for Appalachian mothers, babies, and families.
Annual Conference - Again in an effort to increase education in Appalachia, this year's conference focuses on the dirty work in breastfeeding - racism, birth trauma, opioid addiction, domestic violence, and sexual abuse. Each year, we are offering the conference in a different state, not repeating states until we reach all of Appalachia. We also provide scholarships to this conference in order to include those who have barriers to attending. This conference also provides CEUs for RNs and Social Workers and CERPS. We also award two scholarships this year to attend with free registration.
Community Involvement (all Appalachian states) - Our representatives have been given "rep packs" to set up tables, go into clinics/hospitals/WICs and talk about ABN to get feet on the ground and ask what we can help with at the grassroots level.
When it comes down to it, our mission is "to work towards transformation of breastfeeding culture in Appalachia by providing empowerment and education in order to increase access to care." Every initiative we work on and add always comes back to our mission and we ask ourselves, "how will this increase access to care in Appalachia?" We have a long way to go and we have so many ideas to continue this sometimes messy work. We know we need to work more on closing the racial and health equity gap in Appalachia.
It's no secret that our mothers of color in this country deal with a level of inequity that contributes to lower breastfeeding rates, along with other disparities. In Appalachia, this is identified as an even higher issue as the amount of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) IBCLCs are virtually nonexistent in Appalachia. Our minorities have absolutely no help that comes from their trusted community; often not seeking help at all. This is an issue and one that ABN is trying to address. We are awarding a Continuing Education Scholarship specifically for BIPOC breastfeeding advocates. The scholarship is due August 31 of each year, will be awarded at our conference in October, and is awarded up to $1,000. This can be used for a CLC or CLS course, a conference, IBLCE exam fees, or even fees that are outside of breastfeeding but help this person to pursue their breastfeeding efforts i.e. RN licensure fees, etc. If a course is only $100 and the person needs the other $900 for hotel, mileage, it will also be covered - up to $1,000 per person. We will be awarding *at least* two awardees. We plan to continue this as long as we can and are putting a lot of our efforts into trying to close the gap on the barriers to entry into the field.
In addition to the scholarship, ABN board members are devoted to learning more and growing more. We are attending as many racial equity seminars as we can. After our most recent one, we connected with ROSE and ROBE to discuss bringings trainings to the Appalachian area - there will be more information on this to come soon. Our goal is to bring more community based groups to our areas in Appalachia, and also to involve the grandmothers and fathers (partners) into this discussion.
When we first started ABN, our goal was to increase access to care for breastfeeding endeavors. However, we quickly realized this is women's health issue in general. Therefore, we are working on several initiatives, that are constantly growing into new initiatives or subsets of initiatives.
Here's a list of what we are working on currently:
Hospital Education Initiative (all Appalachian states) - A hospital-focused program for nurses and physicians to receive breastfeeding and Appalachian-centered education. Basically, all the evidence-based breastfeeding information they should be hearing + Appalachian culture and barriers associated with this breastfeeding information. We have our first topic completely finished and just submitted for approval CERPS, CEUS, and CMES. This will be available in person and through webinar and is 100% fundraiser funded. We will also have rack cards/youtube channel with information connected to this initiative.
Home Visitor Education Initiative (WV) - A subset of our hospital education initiative, tailored for home visitor programs in the state of WV, as our WV membership has expressed a need. This will provide CEUS for RNs and Social Workers.
Workplace Education Initiative (NC) - Another subset of our hospital education initiative, tailored to businesses in NC - as our NC membership has expressed a need. Discussion is going on to include awards for breastfeeding-friendly workplaces.
Empower Mom Movement (all Appalachian states) - A social media campaign focusing on giving women a voice in their healthcare choices. The main focus is breastfeeding and birth, however the movement is an effort to empower Appalachian women to use their voices in everyday decisions.
After-Hours Breastfeeding Helpline (available to anyone, focus is on Appalachian Ohio in current grant period) - Open 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. - a parent or interested person may call the line during operating hours to speak with a live breastfeeding specialist (CLC, CLS, or IBCLC required). All hotline staff is trained on providing telephone support and is a line for supporting and referring, therefore able to provide lactation support to all of Appalachia through telephone when otherwise may be unavailable - closing the gap in health inequity for breastfeeding support. Through the last grant, we were also able to pay 100% for 20 CLS attendees, with an emphasis on finding a diverse group of breastfeeding advocates to attend the training. All 20 attendees passed, giving Appalachian Ohio 20 new certified lactation specialists, again increasing access to care.
Advanced Clinical Concepts in Lactation - ABN is fundraising to bring this training to Appalachia next Spring, being able to offer either a discounted rate or a free training to more in Appalachia.
Hospital Adoption Program for Baby-Friendly - ABN is working on submitting grant proposals to various entities with the idea of hospitals in metropolitan areas to adopt a rural hospital that is not in competition with each other to work towards baby friendly designation by collaborating and sharing resources that Appalachian hospitals would otherwise have issues with resource availability. This is because currently only 18 out of the 518 baby-friendly hospitals are actually located in an Appalachian region of the United States - only 3.5% - for an area that stretches 13 states. Our purpose is to increase the number of babies born in Baby-Friendly hospitals in Appalachia - again increasing access to care and access to better healthcare for Appalachian mothers, babies, and families.
Annual Conference - Again in an effort to increase education in Appalachia, this year's conference focuses on the dirty work in breastfeeding - racism, birth trauma, opioid addiction, domestic violence, and sexual abuse. Each year, we are offering the conference in a different state, not repeating states until we reach all of Appalachia. We also provide scholarships to this conference in order to include those who have barriers to attending. This conference also provides CEUs for RNs and Social Workers and CERPS. We also award two scholarships this year to attend with free registration.
Community Involvement (all Appalachian states) - Our representatives have been given "rep packs" to set up tables, go into clinics/hospitals/WICs and talk about ABN to get feet on the ground and ask what we can help with at the grassroots level.
When it comes down to it, our mission is "to work towards transformation of breastfeeding culture in Appalachia by providing empowerment and education in order to increase access to care." Every initiative we work on and add always comes back to our mission and we ask ourselves, "how will this increase access to care in Appalachia?" We have a long way to go and we have so many ideas to continue this sometimes messy work. We know we need to work more on closing the racial and health equity gap in Appalachia.