Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing
In FocusCosts Related to Promoting Breastfeeding Among Urban Low‐Income Women
Section snippets
Design
The data for this secondary analysis were obtained from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) designed to determine what effect a Breastfeeding Support Team had on breastfeeding duration for low‐income women during the first 24 weeks postpartum. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Women (N = 328) who were WIC eligible were recruited within 24 to 48 hours of delivery of their full‐term infants. The
Results
Characteristics of the sample of mothers have been reported previously (Pugh et al., 2010). The time and mileage resources required for the intervention are reported in Table 1. The intervention included more than 3 hours of in‐person time (M = 223 minutes, 95% CI [206, 241]). The actual telephone time was over one hour (M = 84 minutes, 95% CI [75, 92]). The extra time attempting contact on the phone had a mean of 9 minutes (95% CI [8, 10]). The total direct time spent by the peer counselors
Discussion
Similar to the pilot study of the breastfeeding support team for low‐income women (Pugh et al., 2010), we found that the personnel and transportation costs of the Breastfeeding Support Team in this study were also approximately $300 per woman. Nursing wages have substantially increased over the past 7 years. As such, the fact that the intervention costs the same amount per woman suggests that the intervention, as implemented in the current study, required less time. This fact is supported from
Nursing Implications
Nurses with or without peer counselor support often are identified as first‐line professionals in the promotion of breastfeeding. Community health nurses working alone or in conjunction with peer counselors have the appropriate skill set to support breastfeeding (Langston, Pugh, Franklin, Brown, & Milligan, 1998; Pugh et al., 2001; Pugh et al., 2002; Rice, Craig, McCormick, & Renfrew, 2010). Nurses have educational expertise, possess psychosocial intervention skills, understand symptom
Policy Implications
This intervention to increase breastfeeding duration among low‐income women is not very expensive. If it is targeted at the most vulnerable highest risk women and children, this will not necessarily lower the cost per woman, but the total expense will not be very large. Our data do not suggest that all the costs are offset, but that they are somewhat offset. An insurer might not find this convincing as a cost‐saving measure in the short run, but a local public health agency or organization or a
Acknowledgment
Supported by the National Institute of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research, Grant 1RO1NR007675.
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Cited by (9)
Evidence-based Interventions to Support Breastfeeding
2013, Pediatric Clinics of North AmericaCitation Excerpt :Peers may be hired as components of hospital-based breastfeeding support systems or may be available for in-hospital support from the local Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program for women who qualify and in states that permit coordination of WIC services with delivery of hospital care. Peer support offered through the WIC program has been successful, and is cost effective, despite national efforts to eliminate this component of the program altogether in proposed budget cuts.41 As previously mentioned, many of the support services available in the community to postpartum breastfeeding women have played a role in prenatal promotion and support, and some have affected the peripartum period.
Reactions of Low-Income African American Women to Breastfeeding Peer Counselors
2016, JOGNN - Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal NursingCitation Excerpt :Inconsistent use of BPCs may be related to the lack of financial resources in WIC to support them: 0.6% of WIC's budget is allotted to breastfeeding programs (Baumgartel et al., 2013). In a cost–benefit analysis, Frick, Pugh, and Milligan (2012) found that the costs of BPCs and community health nurses to support breastfeeding WIC participants were “partially offset by reducing medical care utilization and formula feeding costs” (p. 144). Nurses can advocate for better integration of breastfeeding peer counselors into the health care system to improve breastfeeding health-related outcomes.
Support for healthy breastfeeding mothers with healthy term babies
2022, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews