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About Us

The BFREE Team, based in Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center (CCMC), was one of 9 teams awarded a grant by the New York State Department of Health to lead breastfeeding/chestfeeding and lactation support initiatives throughout Nassau and Suffolk County. Our team has experience promoting breastfeeding through Long Island from our work with our prior 6-year grant, Creating Breastfeeding Friendly Communities, from 2017 to 2023. We also have prior experience promoting breastfeeding/chestfeeding in clinical practices through our New York State Department of Health grant from 2011-2016 addressing pediatric obesity prevention. 

Nursing Newborn

Our Mission

​We will improve lactation education and support through pregnancy, the period following childbirth, and early childhood in our priority communities on Long Island in order to help families meet their breastfeeding/chestfeeding goals and reduce racial, ethnic, and community differences in breastfeeding/chestfeeding rates.

Our Vision

​We hope for a majority of parents in the communities we work with to continue breastfeeding/chestfeeding for a minimum of 6 months, with a notable percentage doing so exclusively.

Our Priority Communities

     Babylon                                                Southampton                                               Hempstead

   Glen Cove                                                       Islip                                              Shinnecock Reservation   

Our Goals

  1.  Promote evidence-based lactation education/management

  2. Support mothers in meeting their lactation goals

  3. Establish policy and community support for breast/chestfeeding

  4. Increase breast/chest feeding initiation, exclusivity, and duration within the selected communities

Our Objectives

  1. Increase the number of Breastfeeding Friendly health care practices and worksites

  2. Implement breast/chestfeeding and lactation support in community and public spaces

  3. Develop new and expand our existing lactation support groups

  4. Build and expand our collaborative cross-sectional coalition in support of breastfeeding/chestfeeding

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