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Abstract

            This portfolio was prepared by Babies and Mothers, Incorporated (BAM), and begins with a detailed description of the BAM organization, whose mission is to advance lactation education through leadership, advocacy, professional development, and research.  Furthermore, BAM aims to increase the incidence and duration of breastfeeding in low-income minority populations through comprehensive education of health professionals.

            This portfolio explains the specific advantages and disadvantages of spreading breastfeeding education to low-income minority mothers in Miami, Florida.  The program outlines a four-day workshop comprised of sixteen free hours of continuing education credit for allied health workers, health professionals, and  health educators, to name a few.  

            The portfolio culminates with specific characteristics of the target group, creative ways to reach low-income minority families, and effective methods for recruiting this target group to breastfeed.  Promotional items are included, and focus on recruiting minority women to breastfeed by targeting minority men with whom they may be associated.  

Workshop Description

            Babies and Mothers, Incorporated is dedicated to impacting the future through breastfeeding education.  IMPACT is a four-day workshop designed for allied health workers, health educators, and health professionals (referred to collectively through this program as “health professionals”) to earn continuing education credits. Each day includes a six-hour seminar worth four hours of continuing education credit. Health professionals can choose to attend any or all of the seminars to earn credit. 

            At least one of the founders of Babies and Mothers, Incorporated facilitates the IMPACT four-day workshop, with student interns and volunteers lending support.  BAM hosts their IMPACT workshops at hotels, where health professionals can arrange lodging at their own expense and bring their families if they wish.  Seminars last from 9:00am and end at 3:00pm, with a lunch hour around 11:00am and a fifteen-minute break in the afternoon.

            Day one of the workshop features “Breastfeeding Basics,” which provides health professionals with accurate information about breastfeeding care.  Day two begins to narrow the scope of breastfeeding to focus on low-income minority women, and discusses nutrition for breastfeeding mothers in “Healthy Eating for Healthy Milk.”  Day three’s seminar explores both negative and positive extrinsic factors that affect breastfeeding adherence through “Social and Media Influences on Breastfeeding.”  Finally, day four discusses the importance of the father and family in breastfeeding recruitment efforts with “Making the Decision Together.”