Innovative approaches to breastfeeding promotion & support

Innovative approaches to breastfeeding promotion and support entails several efforts working in synchrony and coordination. Evidence from LMIC countries show that advocacy is needed to generate the necessary political will to enact legislation and policies to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding at the hospital and community levels. This political-policy axis in turn drives the resources needed to support workforce development, program delivery, and promotion. Research and evaluation are needed to sustain the decentralized program coordination required for goal setting and system feedback. Meta-analyses indicate that breastfeeding practices are highly responsive to interventions delivered in health systems, communities, and homes. Maternity leave and workplace interventions are also beneficial, although studies are few and are generally limited to high-income settings. Studies show that the effects of interventions on breastfeeding outcomes are achieved when interventions are delivered in combination. For example, combined health systems and community interventions can increase exclusive breastfeeding by 2·5 times.