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Current Funded Demonstration Projects

Expanding the Reach of the Mothers' Milk Club Model
Colonel Stanley R. McNeil Foundation, Chicago
January 2009 to December 2010

Project Synopsis:  In collaboration with Chicago Department of Public Health, the Rush Mothers’ Milk Club is developing a 20-minute DVD, in English and in Spanish, about the importance of human milk for VLBW infants.  Using terminology and scenarios that have been shown effective in the Rush Mothers’ Milk Club program, this DVD will target expectant and new mothers who receive care in the Chicago Department of Public Health clinics.  Unlike existing pamphlets and less culturally-sensitive videos, the MMC video features real, everyday women.  It provides expectant mothers with factual information from healthcare providers that subsequently exemplified through testimonials and demonstrations from mothers, addressing the following topics:

  1. The decision to change from formula to mothers’ milk after learning that mothers’ milk can protect infants from many illnesses.
  2. Misconceptions that the mothers’ milk may not be "good" for infants because of lifestyle issues (e.g., scheduling, stress) or because of poor maternal diet.
  3. The concept of using of a breast pump to collect milk, emphasizing that it is not painful or inconvenient.
  4. Ways to provide milk for VLBW infants, emphasizing that receiving breast milk is more important for the infant than the method in which the milk is delivered.
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