Our Mission
ABN's mission is to work towards transformation of breastfeeding culture in Appalachia by providing empowerment and education to increase access to care.
Our Vision
In the Appalachian region, we see staggering breastfeeding rates that are much lower than the rest of the nation. Our network is dedicated to work towards changing these dismal statistics and helping every mom and baby have the access to care that they deserve and education to make their own informed decisions.
ABN Initiatives in Progress:
Hospital Education Initiative - Our membership is working on an education program to be available to hospital nurses and providers on Appalachian specific topics including - NAS, Tongue Tie, Supplementation, Family Dynamics, Breastfeeding Myths and Appalachian Culture. We have recently added educational brochure/pamphlet development into our initiative.
Empower Mom Movement - This is our social media campaign to empower moms to take hold of their own health care, including breastfeeding support. We are present on Facebook and working on Instagram and Twitter as "Empower Mom Movement"
Appalachian Breastfeeding Conference - Our 3rd Annual Appalachian Breastfeeding Conference will be held in Kingsport, TN October 11-12, 2019! With significant growth the past couple years, we have opened the conference up to a two day event. This year's theme is "Supporting Lactation in the Modern World: Ethics and Hot Topics", where our session topics include the ethics of online consults, social media, stepping away from the "mini-consult", breastfeeding and marijuana, informal milk sharing, and embracing diversity in breastfeeding.
Hospital Adoption Program for Baby Friendly - We are working on a grant proposal 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. For instance, Summa Health in Akron, OH is Baby Friendly designated. My hospital in Gallipolis, OH is not designated, but we are working towards designation. We are not in competition with each other, and because of our limited rural resources, we would really benefit from an "adoption" or the help of an urban hospital. We would just need funding - and would be a program similar to Ohio First Steps, but streamlining to all 12 Appalachian states. Currently, only only 18 of the 518 Baby Friendly Hospitals are in an Appalachian county of ALL 12 Appalachian states, which accounts for only 3.5% of Baby Friendly hospitals. Because a 12 state region is so vast, seeing this data only confirms more to us that there are unique and detrimental barriers to BFHI in Appalachia.
Speaking Engagements - In an effort to educate on Appalachian breastfeeding barriers to the rest of the nation, our board members are active in conference attendance outside of our own conference. In addition, we have started to become involved in submitting abstracts at national and international conferences.
ABN's mission is to work towards transformation of breastfeeding culture in Appalachia by providing empowerment and education to increase access to care.
Our Vision
In the Appalachian region, we see staggering breastfeeding rates that are much lower than the rest of the nation. Our network is dedicated to work towards changing these dismal statistics and helping every mom and baby have the access to care that they deserve and education to make their own informed decisions.
ABN Initiatives in Progress:
Hospital Education Initiative - Our membership is working on an education program to be available to hospital nurses and providers on Appalachian specific topics including - NAS, Tongue Tie, Supplementation, Family Dynamics, Breastfeeding Myths and Appalachian Culture. We have recently added educational brochure/pamphlet development into our initiative.
Empower Mom Movement - This is our social media campaign to empower moms to take hold of their own health care, including breastfeeding support. We are present on Facebook and working on Instagram and Twitter as "Empower Mom Movement"
Appalachian Breastfeeding Conference - Our 3rd Annual Appalachian Breastfeeding Conference will be held in Kingsport, TN October 11-12, 2019! With significant growth the past couple years, we have opened the conference up to a two day event. This year's theme is "Supporting Lactation in the Modern World: Ethics and Hot Topics", where our session topics include the ethics of online consults, social media, stepping away from the "mini-consult", breastfeeding and marijuana, informal milk sharing, and embracing diversity in breastfeeding.
Hospital Adoption Program for Baby Friendly - We are working on a grant proposal 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. For instance, Summa Health in Akron, OH is Baby Friendly designated. My hospital in Gallipolis, OH is not designated, but we are working towards designation. We are not in competition with each other, and because of our limited rural resources, we would really benefit from an "adoption" or the help of an urban hospital. We would just need funding - and would be a program similar to Ohio First Steps, but streamlining to all 12 Appalachian states. Currently, only only 18 of the 518 Baby Friendly Hospitals are in an Appalachian county of ALL 12 Appalachian states, which accounts for only 3.5% of Baby Friendly hospitals. Because a 12 state region is so vast, seeing this data only confirms more to us that there are unique and detrimental barriers to BFHI in Appalachia.
Speaking Engagements - In an effort to educate on Appalachian breastfeeding barriers to the rest of the nation, our board members are active in conference attendance outside of our own conference. In addition, we have started to become involved in submitting abstracts at national and international conferences.