Document Type

Student Presentation

Presentation Date

4-17-2017

Faculty Sponsor

Pamela Gehrke

Abstract

Idaho is the only state in the U.S. without laws protecting breastfeeding mothers, even though Idaho has one of the highest rates of breastfeeding in the country (“Idaho breastfeeding laws”, 2017). Businesses and organizations can support breastfeeding by providing a place for mothers to express breast milk and creating a culture of support for employees and customers.

A community health assessment of selected Boise businesses and organizations using the Breastfeeding Family Friendly City Designation (BFF-CD) framework (Labbok, n.d.) was done with the purpose of determining support for breastfeeding families in the Boise area. This project was reviewed by the Boise State University ORC and was deemed exempt. Structured interviews were conducted with representatives of 20 businesses and organizations. These interviews included questions about breastfeeding policies for employees and customers to help determine breastfeeding friendliness, such as providing places for pumping breast milk, and privacy for breastfeeding.

The coalitions have little information about breastfeeding support and practices in the Boise city area. The information obtained will help Central District Health Department Breastfeeding Coalition and the Idaho Breastfeeding Coalition promote a breastfeeding friendly community. Results of the assessment and interviews will be shared in this poster presentation.

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