Samantha Brown, CLC is a WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor working in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Christiana Care Health System in Delaware alongside nurse manager for Parent Education and Lactation Services Mona Liza Hamlin, MSN, RN, IBCLC. In Brown’s role at Christiana Care, she speaks to mothers during prenatal appointments where she offers breastfeeding and Baby-Friendly education. Brown connects with mothers on the postpartum floor as well where she offers more education, support and resources. Last year, she started working with mothers in one of Christiana Care’s pediatric practices. She also contributes to the breastfeeding hotline.
Read on to learn more about the work she’s doing to help moms and babies!
Q: How did you become interested in maternal-child health?
A: I was a stay-at home-mom and wanted a part-time job so I could still be home with my kids. I came across a position as a breastfeeding peer counselor, which I had never heard of before. I had breastfed my own children and was passionate about breastfeeding. I was hired with another peer counselor in 2010 and we started the WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor program from scratch at Christiana Care Health System. It was a great experience being here from the beginning, getting to see what works and what doesn’t and making improvements all along the way.
Q: What is unique about the community you serve?
A: We have a great mix of ethnicities in our community. In one day I might speak to moms from West Africa, Egypt and Mexico. Over the years I have seen how different cultures breastfeed. For example, I had a mom from China who said in her culture they start pumping two weeks before the due date to “bring their milk in” faster. I have had moms in Hispanic culture supplement with formula until their breastmilk comes in. I had a mom from Kenya who would not pump or feed her baby pumped milk; she explained in her culture pumped milk is considered “dirty” milk. I am always learning new traditions of different cultures for breastfeeding. I always try to respect a mom’s individual culture during breastfeeding education.
Q: Christiana Health earned Baby-Friendly designation in February 2016. What’s most rewarding about working in a Baby-Friendly environment?
A: I was a part of the Baby-Friendly committee so I got to see the planning stages and the hard work it took to become Baby-Friendly. The education and getting all staff on the same page was the biggest thing. Now, all patients are given the same education. I love working in a Baby-Friendly hospital because I feel moms are better educated to make their own decision for a feeding plan.
Q: Please tell us about the support groups you offer to new mothers.
A: Parent Education and Lactation Services at Christiana Care offers several support groups to all moms in the community. All the groups are free and no registration is needed. We have a breastfeeding support group twice a week that is often co-led by a Lactation Consultant and Breastfeeding Peer Counselor. Every week we have a popular Mom & Baby group, run by a Lactation Consultant, for anything baby- or mom-related. In fact some groups have stayed in contact over the years. One of our groups just celebrated their 10-year-olds’ birthdays together. I love that! We have a new monthly Back-to-Work Pumping class where moms can bring their pumps, get fitted and learn to use them properly.
Q: How is Christiana Health’s maternal infant health care connected to the community?
A: Christiana Care partners with our local community around maternal-infant health. We have Health Ambassadors at our hospital who work in our local community to bring services, resources and information on topics such as Safe Sleep, programs like our centering program to connect with other moms , and home visiting services for first-time mothers where needed. Over the years the Health Ambassadors have thrown several community-wide baby showers – a free event for pregnant moms and moms with young kids to get health-related information and take home giveaways for themselves and their babies. The Breastfeeding Peer Counselors always have a table at each event for breastfeeding education and support. My fellow Breastfeeding Peer Counselor, Lindsay Parson, visits local women’s shelters to provide breastfeeding education and support every week. She also works with Delaware Adolescent Program to give breastfeeding support to young moms. Both Lindsay and I meet with the same young moms throughout their prenatal care to give breastfeeding education.
During National Breastfeeding Month Christiana Care holds a free community-wide Latch-On event with the opportunity to visit health fair vendors, socialize, and of course breastfeed. This has been a successful event and each year we strive to make it bigger with more breastfeeding moms.
Christiana Care just opened a Breastfeeding Resource Center for the public. Moms can schedule an appointment with a Lactation Consultant and her insurance will be billed. This gives the moms I see a chance to meet with a lactation consultant if they are having more difficulty with breastfeeding without having to pay a consultation fee.
Q: A new, expanded Center for Women & Children’s Health will open at Christiana Care in 2020. How do you anticipate the new space will affect the families you serve?
A: We will have more space for our families and more space for teaching with a larger breastfeeding center, exercise rooms and an open atrium for families who visit. There will be private and public lactation rooms.
Q: Christiana Care operates the oldest human milk bank in the United States. Please share how access to human milk has impacted the families in your community.
A: The milk bank at Christiana Care maintains mothers own milk and donor human milk for our inpatient critically ill premature babies and infants. For the moms I serve who have babies in the NICU, the milk bank is a great benefit to them to have the milk available to use if needed. I still encourage those moms to pump and hand-express as soon as possible after delivery since mom’s milk is best for baby. I can personally relate to NICU moms that I talk to since both my kids were in the NICU here at Christiana Care. I feel when I talk to them about pumping, the benefits of breastmilk, and what to expect I can talk to them on a mom-to-mom level.
Q: You were a part of the GEM Project (Generating Equity for our Mothers): Building systems of support for breastfeeding in the City of Wilmington which sought to implement “breastfeeding peer support for Black and underserved women and families in the communities where they live, work, and play.” What are some of the highlights of this project? What did you learn about supporting women from the GEM Project?
A: We were able to create breastfeeding support groups and build connections with other health centers in our area. Our local moms really appreciated the convenience. Participants ranged from moms with several children to first-time moms who were the first in their family to breastfeed. A number of the moms who participated in the GEM program went on to breastfeed long-term and tried to encourage other moms to breastfeed as well. We always had good participation and hope that other states can the same program to get more moms talking about breastfeeding in their own community.