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PA Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics 

Breastfeeding Programs

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Learn More About Our Breastfeeding Programs and Resources below

First Food

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​This breast/chest-feeding program is committed to:​
  • Fomenting partnerships and cooperation with state-wide community partners

  • Assisting organizations with the implementation of policies and programs across Pennsylvania

  • Promoting the Breastfeeding-Friendly Community

  • Encouraging others to join in the effort to protect breastfeeding

  • Providing education on the benefits of human milk with the purpose of cultural acceptance  
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Keystone 10


​This hospital-based initiative seeks to:
  • Increase the protection, promotion, and support of breast/chest-feeding 

  • Assist Pennsylvania’s birthing facilities in quality improvement by supporting their adoption and implementation of evidence-based maternity care practices
 
  • Improve state-wide initiation, duration and exclusivity rates by encouraging birthing facilities to join the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding initiative

​​The EPIC BEST


​This educational program for healthcare providers, is dedicated to:
  • Encouraging office-based change to promote breast/chest-feeding best practices and policies for increased initiation and duration rates in PA, through:
EPIC – BEST
  • Presentations scheduled on site at practices, grand rounds and meetings. Available online here(for those who live/work in PA)
BEST Plus
  • Providing guidance on how to create a breastfeeding-friendly medical home for feeding parents by expanding on EPIC BEST to include all office staff who might engage with these parents and their families
  •  A Maintenance of Certification (MOC) project is offered to practitioners
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Updates from First Food, Keystone 10 and EPIC BEST

Congratulations to our Mini Grant Recipients!
First Food received numerous and compelling grant proposals, we ultimately were able to choose 15 organizations with the support and funding by the Department of Health. 
We would like to congratulate the following organizations for being 2022-23 First Food Mini Grant recipients:

  • Adagio Health, Inc.
  • ​Crawford County Drug and Alcohol 
  • Community Progress Council WIC
  • Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc.
  • Emma's Footprints
  • Family First Health
  • Fayette County Community Action Agency, Inc.
  • Genesis Birth Services​​
  • Hamilton Health Center Inc./ WIC Program
  • Health Promotion Council
  • Healthy Start, Inc.
  • Luzerne County Breastfeeding Coalition and Maternal Family & Health Services
  • School District of Philadelphia
  • The Wright Center
  • YWCA of Lancaster

Preparation for the Spring 2023 Collaborative Meetings

We have wrapped up our five Fall 2022 Collaborative Meetings! Thank you for everyone who participated and helped to make these meetings possible. As we begin preparing for our Spring Collaborative Meeting, we welcome our supporters to reach out with topics of interest and speaker recommendations. Please contact Bridget Neumaier  bneumaier@paaap.org

Our Pilot Project for Libraries, How Mammals Feed Their Babies 

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In an effort to educate communities across Pennsylvania about the importance of human milk as "First Food," the Pennsylvania Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics is providing public libraries with free Breastfeeding Library Story Kits as a story time resource to help normalize breastfeeding!
Libraries and librarians play a unique role in providing health information and have an opportunity to improve public support of chest/breastfeeding by ensuring that children's collections include picture books that depict breastfeeding in other mammals, in an age-appropriate manner.

Learning and Engagement Opportunities: 

CME/CEU Practice Education Program 




The EPIC BEST program is a one-hour statewide CME/CEU practice educational program that focuses on the necessity and usage of office-based change as the key in promoting initiation and increasing duration of exclusive breastfeeding. EPIC BEST aims to improve policies that support breastfeeding, recognize misconceptions that create barriers and provide guidance to support parents in feeding and more.

  • Download the fillable Training Request Form and Letter for in-person training requests. Send to Kaiden Levy, klevy@paaap.org to schedule ​​

Online Breastfeeding Education including BEST, BEST PLUS, Keystone 10 and other PA AAP Breastfeeding courses 

  • If you would like to access any of the online trainings or have questions about the online trainings- please email Devon Gilinger, MPH, CHES, CLC at dgilinger@paaap.org. ​

Breastfeeding Resources for Providers

Lactation Education Resources offers free handouts on various topics including when to call a lactation consultant, what to look for when breastfeeding, storage of breastmilk and more. See the handouts and more information here!
​Download the following resources for your practice:
Poster 1: Infant Nutrition
Poster 2: Breastfeeding Benefits
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Resources for Families
Resources for Health Care Providers
Resources for Public Health Workforce and Advocates
Resources for Pennsylvania
© 2022 PA Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
Rose Tree Corporate Center II
1400 N. Providence Road
Suite 4000
Media, PA 19063
Phone: (484) 446-3000
Fax: (484) 446-3255
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