HHS Office on Women’s Health Announces Final Phase Winners in Challenge to Address Breastfeeding Disparities

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office on Women’s Health (OWH) has awarded prizes to the winners in the final phase of the Reducing Disparities in Breastfeeding Innovation Challenge. The national competition was created to identify and reward programs that increase breastfeeding initiation and continuation rates – and decrease disparities – among breastfeeding mothers in the United States. To ensure infants receive the short- and long-term benefits of breastmilk, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first 6 months.

“As we work to implement the Biden-Harris administration’s Maternal Health Blueprint for mothers and families, I strongly emphasize the importance of breastfeeding for both mother and the baby throughout the child’s growth and developmental process,” said Admiral Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services. “Breastfeeding helps babies develop a strong immune system by providing them vital nutrients needed for the first months of life and into the future while allowing mothers to soothe their babies while bonding, which lowers the risk of postpartum depression for mothers.”

Breastfeeding also reduces the baby’s risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and it lowers the risk of obesity, asthma, type I diabetes, and hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) later in life. For the breastfeeding parent, breastfeeding reduces postpartum blood loss and anemia, and lowers the risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, hypertension, and type II diabetes.

Although breastfeeding reduces the risk of short- and long-term illnesses and diseases in both mother and baby, fewer non-Hispanic Black infants (74%) are ever breastfed compared with Asian infants (90%), non-Hispanic White infants (87%), and Hispanic infants (84%).

“Breastfeeding provides benefits to baby and mother that extend beyond nutrition by decreasing health disparities and negative maternal and infant outcomes,” said Dorothy Fink M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s Health and Director of the Office on Women’s Health. “These organizations have developed innovative ways to educate, encourage, and support breastfeeding, including in communities of color, so that parents can give their babies the healthiest start.”

Phase III winners demonstrated effectiveness (statistical significance) in increasing breastfeeding initiation and/or continuation rates and effectiveness (statistical significance) in addressing racial/ethnic disparities among breastfeeding mothers. They successfully replicated and/or expanded their program geographically, clinically, and/or by increasing the program’s size and/or reach. Phase III winners will each receive a prize of up to $55,000.

1. AMEN (All Moms Empowered to Nurse): A peer-to-peer breastfeeding support group launched in 2017, AMEN reaches primarily African American women in Hamilton County, Ohio. AMEN has seen an increase in breastfeeding initiation among non-Hispanic Black women from 63% to approximately 71% within the county. The gap between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White women who initiate breastfeeding has also decreased from approximately 15% to 11% in Hamilton County, OH.
2. Baby Café USA: A Massachusetts-based nonprofit developed the Baby Café model, which is a free-of-charge weekly drop-in community breastfeeding support center located in public spaces in 32 states. Twenty new Baby Café’s opened in 2023; eight were established in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) or public health offices in states with low breastfeeding rates. Forty % of Baby Café participants who identified as Black, Hispanic, Multiracial, or Indigenous who set out to breastfeed for 12 months achieved their goal in 2022.
3. Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc. (CHCR): A federally qualified health center (FQHC) on Staten Island, NY, CHCR serves a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, and immigrant population. The CHCR Breastfeeding Support Program increased breastfeeding continuation (at 6 months) among its program participants from approximately 42% to 80 % during the 2017-2021 period among vulnerable populations in Staten Island. The CHCR Breastfeeding Support Program has been replicated in two FQHCs: Charles Drew Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, and Community Health Centers, Inc. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
4. District of Columbia Breastfeeding Coalition (DCBFC): A nonprofit organization that focuses on improving breastfeeding rates among low-income African American families in Washington, D.C., DCBFC targets its efforts in Wards 5, 7, and 8. The DCBFC implemented a mentoring program between its international board certification lactation consultants (IBCLCs) and DC WIC peer counselors and coached new IBCLCs. DCBFC expanded its client base to develop breastfeeding basics videos for members of the deaf/hard of hearing community and implemented a quality improvement project for pediatric primary care providers. DCBF increased the percentage of pediatric patients who received breastfeeding assistance or a referral for lactation support services from 46% at baseline to 91% by the end of the period.
5. Mississippi CHAMPS Program (MS CHAMPS): MS CHAMPS is housed in Center for Health Equity, Education, and Research at Boston Medical Center and supports implementing the Baby-Friendly initiative and breastfeeding support to improve maternal-infant outcomes. From 2015 to 2023, MS CHAMPS increased the rate of breastfeeding exclusivity from 14% to 30%. MS CHAMPS helped increase the number of Mississippi hospitals that obtained the Baby-Friendly designation to 29, which now accounts for over 75% of the state’s births. MS CHAMPS increased the rate of breastfeeding initiation from 42% to 57%.