Beyond Worksite Wellness

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(No Transcript)
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• Beyond Worksite Wellness
• Breastfeeding Support
• October 4, 2005
• Kimberly Radtke, Coordinator
• Breastfeeding Coalition of WA (BCW)
• The BCW is a program of
• Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies
• Coalition of Washington State
• Ensuring Optimal Health For All Families

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Are you wondering.

• What does breastfeeding have to do with systems
  change policy?!
  
• OR
• Breastfeeding is fine, but what difference will
  it make to me, my employees, co-workers, etc.?
  
• OR
• Why do I need to know this?

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Whats so importantabout Breastfeeding?Does it
really matter?
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Increased Illness Disease Without Breastfeeding

• Evidence per AAP Others
• Disease ? Risk Without
• 
  Breastfeeding
  
• Diarrhea Hospitalization 3x
• Ear Infections Bacteremia 2x
• Pneumonia 2-5x
• Meningitis 4x
• Obesity 30
• Infant Death 20
• Maternal Breast Cancer 25

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• WA State Nutrition and Physical Activity Plan
• DHHS Blueprint for Action
• National Media Campaign
• Healthy People 2010
• AAP AAFP Policy Statement
• CDC Guide to bf Interventions
• US Breastfeeding Committee
• Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine

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Breastfeeding in WA

• 80 initiation rate of among mothers on WIC in KC
  
  
• Duration drops during the first 6 weeks among
  low-income women on Medicaid
  
• Only OR has achieved an exclusive breastfeeding
  rate above 25 at 6 months.
  
• Six states (HI, ID, OR, UT, VT, WA) have achieved
  all the Healthy People 2010 objectives on
  breastfeeding
  
• 75 of mothers initiating breastfeeding
• 50 of mothers breastfeeding their children at 6
  mo of age
  
• 25 of mothers breastfeeding their children at 12
  mo of age
  

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• So why are breastfeeding rates lower than they
  should be?
  
• Unsupportive Worksite
• Media Social Marketing
• Lack of Peer Partner Support
• Physician Education
• Maternity Care Practices
• Insurance Reimbursement Practices

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Media Social Marketing

• We are a bottle feeding culture
• Breastfeeding not a societal norm
• Breastfeeding is not positively portrayed on
  television or in other media
  
• Artificial formula advertising is regulated but
  not enforced in the US
  
• Breasts are used for more than feeding
  babies
  

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Our culture is more comfortable seeing women do
this
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than this

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Marketing

• The marketing of infant formula negatively
  affects breastfeeding
  
• International Code
• of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes

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Peer Support

• Encouragement support provided by mothers who
  are breastfeeding or who have done so in the
  past
  

• Peer Support is a
• cost-effective,
• individually tailored
• approach, especially
• important where
• professional support
• in unavailable.

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Partner Support

• Many men do not want their partners to breastfeed
  in public
  
• Many men dont want to share their partners
  breasts with a baby.
  
• Many women dont want to share their breasts with
  their partner and their baby

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• Work Place Support
• 70 of employed mothers with
• children
• One-third return to work within 3 mo
• Two-thirds return to work within 6 months
• Low-income women return to work earlier
• Many women choose never to initiate breastfeeding
  due to concerns about how they will manage
  breastfeeding and working.
  

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• Employment Breastfeeding
• Fulltime employment reduces BF duration by an
  average of 8 weeks
  
• 1 influence on bf initiation duration
  employment
  
• African American women are more likely to
• return to work fulltime
• return to work sooner
• Have lower breastfeeding rates

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• Employment and Breastfeeding (contd)
• Higher bf initiation rates are associated with
  6 weeks of maternity leave
  

• Only 20 of mothers are
• covered by the Family and
• Medical Leave Act of 1993

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• Legislation and Breastfeeding
• Over 30 states have legislation allowing
  breastfeeding in public places
  
• Several states have expanded legislation
  regarding the workplace
  
• Provision of reasonable time
• Provision of private accommodations for milk
  expression
  
• WA Legislation is confusing

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The Good News about Work and Breastfeeding

• Breastfeeding mothers are half as likely to miss
  a day of work for a sick child compared to
  mothers of formula feeding infants.
  
• Healthcare costs and insurance claims are
  significantly lower for breastfed infants.

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Workplace Success Stories

• Annual savings attributed to bf by Cigna
• 240,000 in health care expenses
• 62 fewer prescriptions
• 60,000 saved in reduced absenteeism rates
• Mutual of Omahas lactation support program
  yields
  
• 83 employee retention rate vs. 59 national
  average
  

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• Breastfeeding and Health Care Expenditures
• For Every 1,000 babies not breastfed
• 2,033 excess physician visits
• 212 excess hospitalization days
• 609 excess prescriptions for ear, respiratory and
  gastrointestinal infections

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Breastfeeding healthier saves

• What else?
• Reduces absenteeism to care for ill children
• Improves employee productivity
• Increases employee morale and loyalty
• Attracts and retains valuable employees
• Gives a family-friendly image to the community

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How YOU Can Affect Change

• Feasible, safe and relatively easy to implement
  strategies
  
• Modest budget

(Worksite Breastfeeding Support Ribbon Cutting
Ceremony)
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Suggested Guidelines

• Develop a bf support program tailored to the
  company/organization/facility, etc.
  
• Tailored to its needs and resources
• Consider convening a task force to asses bf
  employees needs
  
• Provide key decision makers with info on specific
  costs for at least 2 levels of support

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Guidelines continued

• Inform all employees about the companys
  breastfeeding support policy
  
• Written policy communicated to all employees
• Spell out details
• Prohibit harassment of and discrimination against
  bf employees

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Guidelines continued

• Consider flexible scheduling options
• Allow women sufficient break time to breastfeed
  or express milk on the job and provided space in
  a private, clean place (not a bathroom)
  
• Provide education
• Support and be aware of legislation and policies
  promoting workplace support for bf women

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Working Breastfeeding Its Worth it!

• Information created in partnership with HMHB,
  WCAPP, DOH designed to help mothers who return to
  work and their employers (in English Spanish)
  
• Mothers information includes
• health benefits of breastfeeding
• suggestions for finding supportive daycare
• tips for transitioning back to work,
• support services,
• Employers Information includes
• why and how employers can support their
  breastfeeding employees.
  
• Cost savings associated with breastfeeding
• Sample breastfeeding policy
• www.hmhbwa.org/forprof/BCW/education_materials.ht
  m

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BCW Outstanding Employer Award
    Russell Investment Group (2005)
Ft. Lewis Madigan Army Medical Center
(2004) DaVita, Inc. (2002) Pay Plus Benefi
ts (2001) Agilent Technologies (2000) Wyer
haeuser, Inc. (1999)

•  

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This Goes Beyond Worksite Wellness

• This is System Community Change
• WA State Nutrition and Physical Activity Plan
• DHHS Blueprint for Action
• National Media Campaign
• Healthy People 2010
• AAP AAFP Policy Statement
• CDC Guide to bf Interventions
• US Breastfeeding Committee
• Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine

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Increased initiation and duration of
breastfeeding are important national and
global public health goals. By falling short of
these goals, we put babies and mothers at incr
eased health risk. Breastfeeding support in the
workplace is an essential component of meeting t
hese goals and is truly a win-win-win for all
involved. - United States Breastfeeding Commit
tee

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As a famous infectious disease - immunology expe
rt says .with a substance that is so effect
ive at preventing a huge number of short and long
term illnesses in babies and their mothers, of
saving medical and tax dollars, of limiting
environmental waste, of providing so many
immunologic factors of potential use in other
medical applications--it's astounding that it
also happens to be nutritious.

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• Thank you!
• Kimberly Radtke
• Program Coordinator
• Breastfeeding Coalition of WA
• Kimr_at_hmhbwa.org
• 206.281.8032