Diversifying the breastfeeding lactation support workforce will reduce breastfeeding disparities through First Food Equity.

Through HealthConnect One, The InTune Mother Society will increase access to community-based peer-to-peer breastfeeding support, critical to increasing breastfeeding rates and driving down infant mortality rates in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.

Breastfeeding is critical to young children’s health. Yet, years of disinvestment and systemic racism within the health care system created an untenable situation for low-income Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened this inequity as our health care systems are being pushed to the brink. HealthConnect One continues to put communities in touch with their own strengths and skills to augment years of systemic racism and neglect through collaboration, shared learning, and ongoing support for community-led work.   

The First Food Equity Project aims to improve the initiation and duration of breastfeeding rates among low-income communities by expanding community-based, peer-to-peer support models that diversify both the maternal and child health workforces rooted in these communities. 

“For new parents and babies, nothing compares to having lactation support that is from your community and shares your cultural background. The HealthOne Connect has awarded us a generous grant for our First Food Equity project which provides us with the outstanding opportunity to grow the community-rooted lactation support in communities across Oklahoma. “For the communities we are working with, the option to work with someone with shared lived experience can be life-changing.”

Equitable Objectives

• Increase breastfeeding intention, initiation, and duration to improve mother and baby immunity and overall health.
• Utilize the First Food Equity project to increase breastfeeding support by diverse, community-based peer-to-peer providers, through workfoce innovation resulting in increased breastfeeding rates.
• Provide financial assistance and technical support for community-led initiatives and projects focused on increasing breastfeeding intention, initiation, and duration at six weeks.

We are recruiting 15 individuals who are committed to learning and working with The InTune Mother Society to provide education and preventive care for Black, Indigenous, Brown and other populations of color who have the desire to initiate breastfeeding.

If you are interested in a career path that leads to a certification as a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor contact us by using the link below.