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SGCTA Action Directory
About This Resource
Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin released The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding (SGCTA) on January 20, 2011, calling on all sectors of society to "help make breastfeeding easier." This website is centered around an "Action Directory" to showcase organizations' activities on a special page for each of the Surgeon General's 20 actions. Site users are invited to explore the Action Directory pages of greatest interest, to find information and resources and connect to other organizations working in a particular action area. Organizations are invited to add additional activities to populate the directory as well.
How to Use the Action Directory:
- Visit the links below for details on each action, its implementation strategies, USBC resources, and work being done at the national, state, and community levels.
- For faster access, find each page via the website's drop-down navigation menus for each sector/section.
- To add your organization's activities to the directory, request a Group Profile.
Table of Contents – Action Pages
Mothers & Families
Give mothers the support they need to breastfeed their babies.
Action 2: Fathers & Grandmothers
Develop programs to educate fathers and grandmothers about breastfeeding.
Communities
Strengthen programs that provide mother-to-mother support and peer counseling.
Action 4: Community Organizations
Use community-based organizations to promote and support breastfeeding.
Create a national campaign to promote breastfeeding.
Ensure that the marketing of infant formula is conducted in a way that minimizes its negative impacts on exclusive breastfeeding.
Health Care
Action 7: Maternity Care Practices
Ensure that maternity care practices throughout the United States are fully supportive of breastfeeding.
Develop systems to guarantee continuity of skilled support for lactation between hospitals and health care settings in the community.
Action 9: Health Professional Training
Provide education and training in breastfeeding for all health professionals who care for women and children.
Include basic support for breastfeeding as a standard of care for midwives, obstetricians, family physicians, nurse practitioners, and pediatricians.
Action 11: Access to Professional Care
Ensure access to services provided by International Board Certified Lactation Consultants.
Identify and address obstacles to greater availability of safe banked donor milk for fragile infants.
Employment
Work toward establishing paid maternity leave for all employed mothers.
Ensure that employers establish and maintain comprehensive, high-quality lactation support programs for their employees.
Expand the use of programs in the workplace that allow lactating mothers to have direct access to their babies.
Ensure that all child care providers accommodate the needs of breastfeeding mothers and infants.
Research & Surveillance
Increase funding of high-quality research on breastfeeding.
Strengthen existing capacity and develop future capacity for conducting research on breastfeeding.
Action 19: National Monitoring System
Develop a national monitoring system to improve the tracking of breastfeeding rates as well as the policies and environmental factors that affect breastfeeding.
Public Health Infrastructure
Action 20: National Leadership
Improve national leadership on the promotion and support of breastfeeding.