Breastfeeding: One of California's First Investments in Young Children. Building Community Systems for Young Children.

Making the case that breastfeeding provides essential and long-lasting benefits for children and should be one of California's first investments in the healthy development of every child, this report assists state and county commissions of Proposition 10 (Families and Children First Act) in the development of effective strategies and integrated systems to assure breastfeeding success for California families. Following an introduction that looks at current trends and determinants of breastfeeding, the report examines the benefits of breastfeeding, in areas of health, development, and economics. This section also takes a systematic approach to understanding the breastfeeding decision-making process, and barriers to successful breastfeeding. The report then considers ways in which existing support programs could be improved to play a more effective role in such a system, looking at media strategic communication, the health care sector, community resources such as child care services, employers, and home visitation programs. For each of the areas, the report includes specific recommendations for the Proposition 10 commissions. Best practices and model programs are also highlighted. The report next urges Proposition 10 commissions to provide leadership in coordinating and integrating breastfeeding support systems and programs and promoting them. Integrating and coordinating funding is then considered, with both short- and long-term recommendations. The report then presents a critical plan for building an integrated support system for breastfeeding, covering strategic planning, leadership, partnerships and collaboration, training and technical assistance, funding, and evaluation. The report concludes with recommendations for developing an evaluative "breastfeeding report card." The report's five appendices include a schematic of the breastfeeding environment, 10 steps to successful breastfeeding, and a list of breastfeeding information resources. (Contains 57 references.) (HTH)