BabyCafe2014ReportColorPDF

Baby Cafe is proud to announce that we are quickly approaching the 1-year anniversary of our very first drop-in for breastfeeding mothers! We held more than 80 drop-ins during 2014. Attendance has been rising steadily and new mothers continue to come to Baby Cafe seeking breastfeeding care.   We meet twice per week, on T u e s d a y a n d F r i d a y mornings between 10am and 1pm.  We remain the only licensed Baby Cafe in California! 

Meeting the Needs of Mothers & Babies

2014 Report:Baby Cafe Bakersfield

A Project of Central Valley Lactation Association

In Collaboration with California Advanced Lactation Institute

Thanks to the kindness of our major sponsor, Planet Bambini, which is a locally-owned cloth diaper and natural parenting boutique, we have been extremely fortunate to have a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere in which to meet with mothers.  Planet Bambini also provides additional marketing of the Baby Cafe calendar and the service through its online presence and in-store.  Planet Bambini's owner also takes steps to ensure her store is compliant with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. A temporary location in a local church was used for several weeks in the summer because we required air conditioning for the safety and comfort of our mothers and babies.

Baby Cafe combines the two evidence-based, best methods of improving the duration of breastfeeding among a population of mothers: IBCLC care and a high-quality, professionally-guided mother-to-mother support group.  IBCLCs are the recognized experts in human lactation and provide clinical care and education for even the most complicated lactation situations in multiple settings around the world.  Mother-to-mother support normalizes the experience of breastfeeding and creates peer networks of women who support each other through challenges which might otherwise lead to early or unintended weaning. 

Who Runs the Baby Cafe Drop-Ins?

Local lactation professionals volunteer their services and time to ensure that our community receives the highest level of lactation care at Baby Cafe. In fact, the same IBCLCs who practice in our local hospital lactation departments are providing the exact same level of care at Baby Cafe. Additional volunteers provide non-breastfeeding related support services at Baby Cafe drop-ins, such as serving refreshments, set-up, and administrative tasks. 782 total volunteer hours were documented in 2014. The Director of Baby Cafe Bakersfield coordinates staffing, maintains statistics of attendance, and oversees ongoing staff training to ensure consistent messaging in the care that mothers receive.

WHO PAYS FOR

BABY CAFE? Private, in-kind donations have sustained Baby Cafe Bakersfield in its first year of operation.

Mothers receive IBCLC care at Baby Cafe at no cost with no eligibility requirements.

While our overhead expenses are relatively low, running the Baby Cafe does incur costs for supplies such as paper goods and refreshments for mothers, nursing pillows and covers, printing costs for administrative tasks and marketing the service, disposable gloves for clinicians, and other items on an as-needed basis.

To ensure the continuation of this service to our community, we are currently seeking tax-deductible donations.

Among the 2015 goals for Baby Cafe are adding an evening drop-in for the convenience of women who are employed outside the home during the day as well as women who do not have transportation during the day; offering brief educational sessions within Baby Cafe drop-ins; expanding the volunteer staff of Baby Cafe; and identifying new sponsors to sustain the project.

 Through Baby Cafe Bakersfield's partnership with California Advanced Lactation Institute, additional marketing of the service and staff educational needs can be coordinated. In addition, expanded statistical analysis of breastfeeding data for Kern County can be achieved.

Connecting with Baby Cafe BakersfieldWebsite: http://www.californiaadvancedlactationinstitute.com/baby-cafe-

bakersfield/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/babycafebakersfield

Twitter: @BabyCafeBak

Director: Christine Staricka, BS, IBCLC, CCE (661) 243-0135 Email [email protected]

Q&AWhy does Kern County need Baby Cafe?

The all-volunteer staff of lactation providers at Baby Cafe Bakersfield believe that this model of care is particularly effective in our community because it is free and accessible.  Mothers need a reliable place to go which is open frequently enough to accommodate their time-sensitive lactation concerns, and the frequent meetings provide a continuity of care which is not available elsewhere in our community.  Most mothers attend Baby Cafe more than twice, and many have attended 5 or more times.  Area hospitals and pediatricians are the most frequent referral sources for mothers attending Baby Cafe.   Baby Cafe fills an important role for hospitals who are on the journey to becoming certified Baby-Friendly because the Ten Steps for Successful Breastfeeding require new mothers to be referred to community resources for breastfeeding support.   Even hospitals which provide outpatient lactation support frequently have limited availability of appointment times and utilize Baby Cafe drop-ins as an alternate choice for mothers who need help within a distinct timeframe.  

Who Provides Strategic Support to Licensed Baby Cafe Locations?

We recently reported our 2014 annual statistics to our governing organization, BabyCafeUSA, a non-profit charity (www.babycafeusa.org)  Maintaining accurate statistics of mothers who attend is an essential piece of the work done by licensed Baby Cafes.  These statistics are used to verify the effectiveness of the model, for Baby Cafes seeking grants, and to report to donors the effects of their philanthropy.  A full report for Baby Cafe USA 2014 will be

released in the first quarter of 2015 and will include the full statistical analysis of Baby Cafe Bakersfield.

What Makes It Difficult for a Mother to Meet Her Own Breastfeeding Goals?

Inconsistent breastfeeding education and support are frequently cited as a very significant barrier to ensuring mothers can breastfeed as long as they choose. Baby Cafe works to eliminate this barrier by providing excellent, current, evidence-based breastfeeding information to its attendees and ensuring that mothers are able to take this information back to their providers as they make health decisions and advocate for themselves and their babies.  This case-by-case effort to ensure providers have accurate information spreads awareness of the realities of breastfeeding, the foundations of human lactation, and the latest research and evidence from the maternal child health arena.  Physicians and other healthcare providers are then able to learn from their patients and provide constantly improving breastfeeding care.

How Does Baby Cafe Serve Pregnant Women?

Baby Cafe Bakersfield welcomes pregnant women to drop-ins as a way to help them become familiar with the realities of breastfeeding and to begin building their personal support network. Prenatal breastfeeding education has been shown to be fundamental to ensuring that mothers can meet their breastfeeding goals, and attending a mother-to-mother support group such as Baby Cafe is a perfect complement to any classroom learning they may undertake.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to Baby Cafe Bakersfield, please do so through WarmLine, our fiscal agent, at the link below. PayPal donations available!

http://e-warmline.org/help-donate/

To download a Baby Cafe flyer for distribution, please visit the website

http://www.californiaadvancedlactationinstitute.com/baby-cafe-bakersfield/

This report was created and sponsored by Baby Cafe Bakersfield in collaboration with California Advanced Lactation Institute and Central Valley Lactation Association. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Kern County families who have shared their babies and their experiences with us!