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The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Children's Fund (UNICEF) initiated the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative to create positive environments to enhance breastfeeding attitudes and experiences for mothers and babies. Hospitals gain this designation by implementing the WHO Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. While breastfeeding has been shown to positively impact infant health outcomes and becoming Baby Friendly is economically cost neutral, little evidence has shown the effect of Baby Friendly practices on early infant health outcomes. The goal of this research is to estimate healthcare utilization before and after the implementation of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative at hospitals in the state of Delaware.
Principal Investigator: David Paul, MD, Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Christiana Care Health System. Co-Investigators: Cecelia Harrison, MPH, Research Associate, Christiana Care Health System; Mia Papas, PhD MPH, Corporate Director, Christiana Care Health System. CCRS research team: Mary Joan McDuffie, MA, Policy Scientist & Medicaid Research Program Director; Erin Lynch, MS, Policy Scientist.