Alaska Native Medical Center Announces Baby-Friendly Designation
Congratulations to Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) for gaining Baby-Friendly Designation! CHEER worked with the facility starting with its enrollment in the AI/AN CHAMPS project.

For more information about ANMC, please visit their website using the button below.

news from cheer


​​CHEER LAUNCHES 'CHEER IN GREECE' (CHEERING)
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CHEERing provides direct service every week at Skaramagas, Oinofyta, and Eleonas refugee camps, in collaboration with other non-profit organizations, and intensive support at the Provocando la Paz shelter in central Athens. Each week, CHEERing staff weighs, measures, and tracks growth in babies, and offers support to mothers of young infants. They also provide sessions for refugee women about breastfeeding, sexual health, nutrition, and infant development - and much more.

​MERIT HEALTH RIVER OAKS HOSPITAL AWARDED IBCLC CARE AWARD
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CHEER is happy to announce that one of its CHAMPS hospitals, Merit Health River Oaks, has been awarded the IBCLC Care Award!

UMMC's John D. Bower School of Population Health Cohort Selected for Graduate Scholars Program​
​CHEER is proud to announce that the Jackson Heart Study’s new Graduate Training and Education Center (GTEC) has selected 5 students from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, one of CHAMPS' hospitals, to participate in its two-year Graduate Scholars Program. The GTEC is intended to provide research and mentorship opportunities to doctoral students and other health sciences students who wish to pursue careers in cardiovascular health. Congratulations, UMMC students!
Community Health Systems Names CHAMPS Hospital Leads as Employees of the Year
CHAMPS is delighted to announce that Rene Simpson, BSN, IBCLC, Lactation Coordinator, and Jean Dunn, RN, CLC, OB Educator Coordinator, the Baby-Friendly leads at Merit Health Woman's and Merit Health River Oaks hospitals, respectively, in Mississippi, have received great honors from their corporate-level employer, Community Health Systems (CHS).

Each year, CHS, which operates 116 hospitals nationally in 18 states, awards one employee at each hospital their Employee of the Year title. This year, Rene Simpson won the award for Merit Woman's, and Jean Dunn, for Merit River Oaks.

Rene and Jean were responsible for leading the Baby-Friendly effort at each of their hospitals, both of which gained Baby-Friendly designation in 2018. Merit Wesley in Mississippi also gained designation in 2018. All three hospitals are part of the CHAMPS initiative in Mississippi.

“It was truly humbling to be awarded Employee of the Year for Merit Health Woman’s Hospital. I am so blessed to be recognized for doing something I love! Supporting our mothers and babies on their breastfeeding journey is my passion,” said Rene.

Merit Health also recently assigned Rene the role of working with the remaining five Merit hospitals to help them achieve Baby-Friendly designation. This represents a great personal achievement and recognition for Rene and Jean, and a serious commitment to changing maternity practices and seeking Baby-Friendly designation by CHS.

Overall, 11 Mississippi hospitals, 25% of all the state's hospitals, are now Baby-Friendly designated, up from 0 in 2014.

​CHAMPS Abstract Accepted to NBCC 2019
CHAMPS is excited to share that our abstract entitled 'Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Care Practices (CHAMPS) using a Curriculum on Safety' for the upcoming United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) Ninth National Breastfeeding Conference and Convening (NBCC 2019) Breakout Panel Session has been accepted! Thank you to CHAMPS' own Lori Feldman-Winter, Cathy Carothers, and Kimarie Bugg for submitting, and in advance for presenting on behalf of the CHAMPS team.

For more information about NBCC 2019, please visit their website using the button below.
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Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union County Announces Baby-Friendly Designation
Congratulations to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union County for gaining Baby-Friendly Designation! CHEER is thrilled to have been working with the hospital starting with its enrollment in the CHAMPS South project.

For more information about Union County, please visit their website using the button below.
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King's Daughters Medical Center Announces Baby-Friendly Designation
Congratulations to King's Daughters Medical Center for achieving Baby-Friendly Designation! CHEER is grateful to have had the opportunity to support the hospital along its Baby-Friendly journey, beginning with its enrollment in the CHAMPS South project.

For more information about King's Daughters, please visit their website using the button below.
CHEER becomes national voting member of the US Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)
CHEER is happy to announce that it has recently been accepted as a national voting member of the USBC, a coalition of organizations around the country whose shared missions are to promote supportive breastfeeding policies and practices.

​To learn more about the USBC, please visit their website using the button below.
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Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle Announces Baby-Friendly Designation
Congratulations to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle for gaining Baby-Friendly Designation! CHEER is proud to have been able to support the hospital beginning with its enrollment in the CHAMPS South project. For more information about Golden Triangle, please visit their website using the button below.
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​Improved Maternity Care Practices Decrease Racial Gaps in Breastfeeding in the U.S. South
​A new paper published in Pediatrics links successful implementation of Baby-Friendly™ practices in the southern U.S. with increases in breastfeeding rates and improved, evidence-based care. The changes were especially positive for African-American women.
Between 2014 and 2017, 33 hospitals enrolled into the CHAMPS (Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices) program out of Boston Medical Center’s Center for Health Equity, Education and Research, funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. All birthing hospitals in Greater New Orleans, and 18 in Mississippi, signed up. Breastfeeding initiation at CHAMPS hospitals rose from 66% to 75%, and, among African Americans, from 43% to 63%, over the 3 years. The gap between White and Black breastfeeding rates decreased by 9.6%.
​“US breastfeeding rates differ by race,” says Anne Merewood, PhD MPH, a Boston Medical Center researcher and the lead author on the study. “This is the first study that links better compliance with the WHO’s Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding to lower racial inequities across a large number of hospitals.”
New CHAMPS Grant from the Bower Foundation!
CHEER has received a new, 3-year grant from the Bower Foundation to continue work with Baby-Friendly designated Mississippi hospitals.
CHEER (the Center for Health Equity, Education, and Research at Boston University School of Medicine) has run Mississippi CHAMPS since 2014, working with communities and hospitals to support, promote, and increase breastfeeding. The program also helps hospitals to gain the coveted WHO Baby-Friendly Hospital title. Since 2014, 8 Mississippi hospitals have been designated Baby-Friendly, and breastfeeding rates across CHAMPS-enrolled hospitals in Mississippi have risen from 49% to 67%. Rates have particularly increased among African American women, from 33% to 56%.
“This new grant will help us to work directly with Baby-Friendly designated hospitals in Mississippi, to help them ingrain the new policies and practices, and to support them with ongoing training and data collection,” said Anne Merewood PhD MPH, an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at BUSM, and Director of CHEER and CHAMPS. “Also, it will help us to work across Mississippi to engage statewide support.”
Already, CHAMPS has a working relationship with WIC, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi, and MSPQC (the Mississippi Perinatal Quality Collaborative). Community level support is provided by ROSE (Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere), a national organization supporting breastfeeding among women of color. Many other breastfeeding initiatives have also gotten off the ground in Mississippi since 2014, including a milk bank, and the opening of many Baby Cafes™ where women in the community can get support.
“This work is really supporting a more humane and evidence-based approach to maternal child health at the hospital level – it’s about much more than breastfeeding,” says Dr Merewood. “But sometimes it takes time for new policies and practices to become accepted and routine. This new grant will help Mississippi hospitals to establish Baby-Friendly practices as the norm.”

2018 CHEER Lifetime Achievement Award: Kimarie Bugg!
CHEER is thrilled to announce the recipient of our 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award: Kimarie Bugg, DNP, RN, MPH, IBCLC, CLC, for her long-standing dedication to breastfeeding and Maternal Child health equity! Kimarie is the Co-Founder, President/CEO, and Change Leader for Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE), a nonprofit developed in 2011 to address breastfeeding inequities in the African-American community. CHEER’s Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices (CHAMPS) program has partnered with ROSE since its incipiency in 2014, and has the pleasure to host Kimarie as our Community Engagement Director. Throughout her career, Kimarie has tirelessly served families, trained health care providers, managed programs, advised national efforts, and led the charge for breastfeeding health equity amongst typically underserved communities in the United States. In this, her life exemplifies exactly the kind of work CHEER seeks to uphold! 
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St. Tammany Parish Hospital Announces Baby-Friendly Designation
Congratulations to Saint Tammany Parish Hospital for gaining Baby-Friendly Designation! CHEER worked with Saint Tammany Parish Hospital during the CHAMPS South project and is proud to have supported them to achieve this important accomplishment! For more information, please visit their website using the button below.
Merit Health River Oaks Hospital Announces Baby-Friendly Designation
Congratulations to Merit River Oaks Hospital for gaining Baby-Friendly Designation! Merit Health River Oaks is the latest hospital from the Mississippi CHAMPS Project and the second hospital in the Merit System to become designated. We are so proud to have been a part of their journey.  For more information, please visit their website using the button below.
Merit Health Woman's Hospital Announces Baby-Friendly Designation
Congratulations to Merit Health Woman's Hospital for gaining Baby-Friendly Designation! This is the first hospital in the Merit Health system to become Baby-Friendly. CHEER is proud to have worked Merit Health Woman's Hospital during the MS CHAMPS project and to have helped them achieve this important accomplishment! For more information, please visit their website using the button below.
Ochsner Medical Centers, Kenner and West Bank Campus, Announce Baby-Friendly Designation
Congratulations to the Ochsner Medical Centers, Kenner and West Bank Campus, for gaining Baby-Friendly Designation! CHEER is proud to have worked with each hospital during the CHAMPS South project and to have helped them achieve this important accomplishment! For more information, please visit their website using the button below.
Baptist Memorial Hospital North Mississippi Announces Baby-Friendly Designation
Baptist Memorial Hospital North Mississippi, has achieved Baby-Friendly status. CHEER is proud to work with Baptist Memorial Hospital North Mississippi and to have advised them on their path to achieving Baby-Friendly designation. 
Rocky Boy's CHA: A Successful Health Priorities Meeting!
On July 18th, the Rocky Boy Health Board (RBHB) and the Chippewa Cree Wellness Coalition (CCWC) hosted the Community Health Priorities Meeting, with help from CHEER staff members, Jackie Berger and Kirsten Krane. A critical piece of the community input needed for a Community Health Assessment (CHA), the meeting was held to determine the community’s top health concerns. These health priorities are used to guide the CHA process going forward. 

Top Ten: Rocky Boy’s Community Health Priorities
1. Mental Health
2. Substance Use
3. Nutrition/Food Access/Hunger
4. Trauma
5. Healthcare and Public Health Infrastructure
6. Chronic Disease
7. Family Health
8. Access to Specialty Care
9. Poverty
10. Domestic Violence
CHAMPS at USBC's National Breastfeeding Coalitions Conference 
CHAMPS was well represented at the USBC's National Breastfeeding Coalitions Conference this past weekend.  CHAMPS team members and consultants, Kimarie Bugg from Reaching our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE) and Camie Goldhammer, presented and their sessions are listed below:
  • CHAMPS: Bringing Baby-Friendly to the South, Camie Goldhammer, part of a Whole Group Session on National Initiatives
  • ROSE: Journey from Health Disparity to Health Equity in Reproductive Health, Kimarie Bugg, Breakfast Table Topic
  • The Indigenous Breastfeeding Counselor: Decolonizing Breastfeeding Education, Camie Goldhammer, part of a Peer Sharing Panel
For more information about the event, please visit the USCB website using the button below.
ROSE 7th Annual Breastfeeding and Equity Summit 🌹
Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE) will be hosting their 7th Annual Breastfeeding and Equity Summit, August 16th-17th, 2018. Our very own, CHEER's Director, Anne Merewood, will be there to present about CHAMPS outcomes. For more information about this event, please visit their website using the button below.
Touro Announces Baby-Friendly Designation
Touro Infirmary Hospital of New Orleans, Louisiana, has achieved Baby-Friendly status. CHEER is proud to work with Touro and to have advised them on their path to achieving Baby-Friendly designation. Touro and Ochsner Baptist, which are the only two birthing hospitals actually in the city of New Orleans, are both CHAMPS and now designated as Baby-Friendly. Ochsner Baptist has over 2,000 births per year and Touro has over 3,000 births per year. For more information about Touro, please visit their website using the button below.
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Saint Francis Hospital Bartlett Announces Baby-Friendly Designation
​First wave CHAMPS South program (2014-2017) hospital, Saint Francis Hospital Bartlett of Memphis, Tennessee, has achieved Baby-Friendly status. We at CHEER are proud to work with the organization and to have advised them on their journey to becoming Baby-Friendly. For more information, please visit their website using the button below.
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CHEER Awards 2017 Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to Suzanne Haynes, PhD! 
​CHEER is delighted to announce the recipient of its 2017 Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award: Suzanne Haynes, PhD, for her outstanding service to women and families! Suzanne retired from her position as Senior Science Advisor to the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office on Women’s Health (OWH) at the end of December 2017. In her 23 years at OWH, Suzanne tirelessly promoted and researched issues such as heart disease prevention, breast cancer screening, breastfeeding, the effect of the environment on women and children’s health, adverse childhood experiences and their effect on obesity in women, and opioid use among Native Americans.
 
Suzanne held several key breastfeeding leadership roles at the request of the Assistant Secretary of Health during her tenure at OWH. Perhaps one of her most exciting projects was the 2003-2006 National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign. Suzanne believes it was this that started the national conversation going and changed the tide for breastfeeding in the United States. People and groups joined the Campaign from all over the country. 10-15 local organizations went to their news sources to promote the ads, and groups like USDA, WIC, and CDC started doing more to research and promote breastfeeding. Boston Medical Center, where CHEER is housed, led by Dr. Anne Merewood, CHEER’s Director, was one of about 20 implementation sites for the Campaign. We have been honored to work closely with Suzanne on many more occasions over the years.
 
Suzanne received an award from Women’s Day for her work on the Heart Truth Campaign, and during the Clinton Administration, she worked on the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer. In recognition and appreciation of her tremendous efforts to promote breastfeeding in the United States, Suzanne received the Assistant Secretary for Health’s Award for Superior Service in June 2010.
 
CHEER will honor Suzanne in person at its Mississippi CHAMPS conference in April. To learn more about Suzanne and her inspiring career, check out her CHEER Champion of the Week post! 
​The Children's Hospital of San Antonio Achieves Baby-Friendly Designation
(San Antonio, Texas) - Children's of San Antonio is the second Texas CHAMPS hospital to earn this distinction. Read the press release to learn more.
​​CHEER Hosts Essay Contest
(Utah; Montana) - Students grades 6-12 from Box Elder High School and Rocky Boy High School are encouraged to enter our essay contest focusing on the topic of, "The Benefits of Chippewa Cree Women Breastfeeding." For more information on prizes and fine details, please view our press release.
​CHEER Wins Bid for Blackfeet Tribal Health Department Community Health Improvement Plan
​​(Browning, Montana) - On October 27th, 2017, CHEER was awarded and selected to complete the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) for the Blackfeet Tribal Health Department. View the press release below.
​CHEER Launches Indigenous Breastfeeding Counselor Training
​(Barrow, Alaska) – On September 18-22, 2017 CHEER launched its first Indigenous Breastfeeding Counselor (IBC) training in Barrow, Alaska. The training, designed by CHEER Consultant Camie Goldhammer, LICSW, MSW, IBCLC, is a 5-day, 45-hour course that provides foundational lactation education geared towards Native practitioners and the communities they serve. 
Chippewa Cree Tribe Increases Support for Breastfeeding
(Box Elder, Montana) – On August 10, 2017 the Chippewa Cree Tribal Council of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation signed a proclamation declaring August 2017 as Chippewa Cree Breastfeeding Month and encouraging “all citizens across the Rocky Boy’s Reservation to recognize the importance of breastfeeding in Rocky Boy as a priority for public health.” Breastfeeding Month is one aspect of the Tribe’s increasing support for breastfeeding.  
CHAMPS Director Dr. Anne Merewood Presents Webinar for Mississippi Rural Health Association
On Wednesday September 6, 2017, CHAMPS Director Anne Merewood, PhD, MPH, IBCLC will present a Lunch and Learn Webinar titled "CHAMPS: Updates on Best Maternal Child Practices in Mississippi Hospitals."  The webinar will begin at 1pm central time.  

Thanks to the Mississippi Rural Health Association, CHAMPS members can access the webinar for FREE using the code CHAMPS2017.  To register, visit http://mrha34.wildapricot.org/event-2612309 and register under "CHAMPS Registrants."  

Check out the MSHA Events page for their full schedule!
CHEER and The Bower Foundation Partner
August 1, 2017: CHEER received a 3-year grant from The Bower Foundation to support Mississippi birthing hospitals in their journey to achieve Baby-Friendly designation. The  $497,998 award will be used to increase the number of MS hospitals in CHAMPS by providing:
  • Training
  • Paperwork assistance
  • Data collection expertise
  • Outreach
  • Education
  • And more
The project will begin on 08/01/2017 and run until 07/31/2020.
CHAMPS South Hospital William Beaumont Army Medical Center Produces Patient Care Video! 
William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, enrolled in the CHAMPS South program in May 2015.  They are currently working their way towards Baby-Friendly Designation and produced a video about their newborn service unit and their application of evidence-based practices.  The hospital shared the video on their Facebook page on August 1st, 2017.  
CHAMPS Wednesday Webinar Winner! 
Congratulations to CHAMPS Wednesday Webinar Winner Lori Feldman-Winter, MD, MPH, for her webinar, "Step by Step: Safe Implementation of Skin-to-Skin Care"!

View recording here.  Download slides here. Download recording here.

Check out all our webinars!
CHEER Makes the News! 
On July 23rd, an article about CHEER was published on the website "Our Milky Way."  The title of the article is "System-based approach reduces racial disparities in breastfeeding" and features CHEER Director Dr. Anne Merewood.  
CHAMPS Consultant Camie Goldhammer's training featured in Blackfeet Tribal Newsletter
Camie will teach her 4-hour breastfeeding clinical competencies course at Blackfeet Community College on August 8th.  

This course is designed to cover 4 of the 5 hours of hands on-clinical training required by Baby-Friendly USA™.  This course is FREE to and open to hospital nursing staff, doctors, midwives, community members, and those in positions to support breastfeeding mothers.  This course will cover basic clinical skills supporting breastfeeding, including:
  • counseling skills 
  • skin-to-skin practices
  • effective positioning and latching
  • hand expression
  • safe formula preparation

Register online at bit.ly/2tJklzW

Please email the AI/AN CHAMPS Team (CHEERequity@gmail.com) if you have any questions!
CHEER Receives IHS Funding Contract
We are excited to announce that CHEER has received a contract from the Indian Health Service (IHS) to assist the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes. The $96,000 funding will be used to promote healthy prenatal care as well as assist and address illicit drug use in the prenatal period. This contract from the IHS will allow CHEER to expand our data gathering, focus group testing, and drug use prevention work in several Reservations in Montana and Wyoming.
The Center for Health Equity, Education, & Research Launches at Boston Medical Center
(Boston) – The new Center for Health Equity, Education, & Research (CHEER) launched in May 2017 at Boston Medical Center (BMC). 

CHEER will act as the umbrella organization for the ongoing, multi-year CHAMPS (Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices) Initiative, as well as for funded projects prevention of opioid misuse in tribal communities; community breastfeeding support; community health assessments, and prevention of diabetes and of domestic violence. 
From Plans to Action: Prevention and Support for Pregnant Blackfeet Women Using Opioids
The Center for Health Equity, Education, and Research will partner with the Rocky Mountain Tribal Epidemiology Center (RMTEC) to work with the Blackfeet tribe in combating opioid and other drug use among pregnant women on the Blackfeet Reservation. The work is supported by a grant from the Montana Healthcare Foundation. 
CHAMPS Consultant Camie Goldhammer in Action and Featured in the News!  
CHAMPS Consultant Camie Goldhammer was recently featured in two articles.  On March 29th, 2017, the South Seattle Emerald published an article titled: "Emerald Voices: Camie Goldhammer."  On May 3rd, 2017, KUOW.org posted the article "Breastfeeding is 'life or death for communities of color'" on their website.  Go Camie!
Blackfeet Nation Breastfeeding Sign Unveiling
On Mother's Day, Blackfeet Nation’s Community Breastfeeding Team unveiled the first of 3 large road signs stating, “Blackfeet Nation is Breastfeeding Country,” with a ceremony in Browning, Montana, the capital of Blackfeet Nation. 
AI/AN CHAMPS Hospital Chickasaw Nation Medical Center
Congratulations to Chickasaw Nation Medical Center on being designated as Baby-Friendly in May 2017! 
CHAMPS NOLA Baby Café Westbank
New mothers, mothers-to-be, and the entire community are invited to celebrate the launch of USA’s newest Baby Café in Gretna, Louisiana, the “CHAMPS NOLA Baby Café Westbank!”
Blackfeet Tribal Health Department Releases Community Health Assessment
The Blackfeet Tribal Health Department is pleased to announce the publication of the 2017 Blackfeet Reservation Community Health Assessment (CHA)! This CHA contains information and data about health on the Blackfeet Reservation in 2016-17. Featured community health priorities include mental health, substance abuse, access to primary health care, violence and public safety, and maternal/infant health.
New Funding for CHAMPS in Mississippi
(Boston) – Boston Medical Center’s CHAMPS program (Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices) has received a $1.5 million three-year grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to increase breastfeeding rates, reduce disparities and improve maternity care practices in...

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