The Healthy Start Coalition was awarded a grant to improve breastfeeding initiation and duration rates within the Jacksonville Nurse-Family Partnership program by implementing strategies identified through a Home Visiting Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (HV CoIIN).

The initiative is funded through the National Association of County and City Health Officials’ “Reducing Disparities in Breastfeeding through Peer and Professional Support Project” and will be implemented at the Florida Department of Health — Duval County and UF Health Jacksonville/Shands.

While breastfeeding initiation rates are high in the region and program, duration rates decrease sharply at six months. Racial disparities also persist within the community and the project, putting black babies at higher risk of never being breastfed and increasing the likelihood that they will not achieve the desired six-month duration of breastfeeding.

Through the HV CoIIN strategies, the multi-agency Nurse Family Partnership team will implement peer support groups, professional consultation and increased accessibility to breast pumps, pumping stations and breastfeeding supplies to increase both initiation and duration rates among program participants, with a particular focus on first-time African American and teen mothers.