Quiénes somos

Nuestro objetivo

Tratamos de establecer un espectro de la asistencia en la lactancia materna que comienza durante el embarazo, continúa durante el periodo posparto, y extiende hasta infancia para bajar las disparidades raciales, étnicas, y comunitarias en la iniciación, duración, exclusividad de amamantar. Esperamos dar a todas las madres y sus bebés los chances en alcanzando sus metas de amamantar.

Nuestra visión

Esperamos que la mayoría de las madres en las comunidades de Long Island elegidas del Departamento de Salud del Estado de Nueva York continúe a amamantar por un mínimo de 6 meses, con un porcentaje haciéndolo exclusivamente.

Obra original de Dondei Dean

Nuestras metas

Promocionar la educación/dirección basada en evidencia.
Ayudar a las madres alcanzar sus metas de amamantar.
Aumentar la iniciación, exclusividad, y duración de amamantar en nuestras comunidades de Islip, Southampton, Wyandanch y Glen Cove.

Nuestros objetivos

Crear una coalición de colaboración que ayuda a las madres que amamantan.
Expandir el conocimiento de la lactancia materna y las habilidades de nuestras parejas en la comunidad.
Aumentar el número de grupos que promueve la lactancia materna en el espectro de la asistencia -- prácticas clínicas, guarderías, sitios de trabajo y Baby Cafés®.

Meet the BFREE Team

The BFREE Team, based in Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center (CCMC), was 1 of 6 teams awarded $1.2 million by the New York State Department of Health to create breastfeeding friendly communities throughout Nassau and Suffolk County . Our team is composed of individuals who have demonstrated a high level of expertise in and dedication to breastfeeding. We also have prior experience promoting breastfeeding in clinical practices through our New York State Department of Health grant from 2011-2016 addressing pediatric obesity prevention.

Henry (Hank) Bernstein, DO, MHCM, FAAP

Primary Investigator

Dr. Bernstein is a professor of Pediatrics at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine. He is involved in a broad range of clinical, educational, research, and advocacy activities and has notably enhanced pediatric clinical practice. He is a published representative of nationally established groups and has directly influenced national policy. In 2013, he created FeedingYourBaby.org, a unique online educational tool available in English and Spanish, to support individualized maternal education, provide guidance, and time management to promote breastfeeding during the baby's first 6 months of life. Dr. Bernstein will oversee all activities, budget, and reporting functions of the grant.

Pamela Reichert-Anderson, MA, RDN, CLC

Project Coordinator

Pamela is a registered dietitian for General Pediatrics at CCMC and is the project coordinator. She has extensive experience with implementing health interventions in various settings. In a similar role on our previous grant, she coordinated training and quality improvement projects in nine pediatric practices to help change their breastfeeding culture. She played an instrumental role in helping Dolan Family Health Center successfully become the first NYS designated Breastfeeding Friendly practice in the Metropolitan region. For this project, Pamela will coordinate all aspects of the project including outreach, provider training, follow-up, assist in implementation and evaluation of operational activities, work closely with project staff to connect organizations and develop strong coalitions, and report any collected data.

Anastasia Schepers, MS, RDN, CDN

Project Coordinator

Anastasia Schepers is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with a Master's degree in clinical nutrition. Most of her 35 years in the field have been spent educating youth and parents on making healthy lifestyle choices, focusing particularly on food and beverages. Anastasia provides a variety of interactive and educational programs in Queens, Nassau, and Western Suffolk under the Kohl’s Cares Keeping Kids Healthy Program, a grant aimed at reducing the prevalence of childhood obesity. Programs focus on including more fruits and vegetables, eating breakfast, making healthy beverage and snack choices, and engaging in physical activity. For this project, Anastasia will coordinate all aspects of the project with Pamela, work closely with project staff to connect organizations and develop strong coalitions, and report any collected data.

Acknowledgements

Dawn Kempa, RN, IBCLC

Program Administrator

Dawn has served as a RN IBCLC for 22 years and is the project administrator. She has been the CCMC WIC program manager for 14 years has vast experience in supporting under served mothers with breastfeeding. Dawn also serves on a number of committees within Northwell Health to make breastfeeding the norm, which includes making clinical practices and hospitals breastfeeding and baby friendly. For this project, she will utilize her expertise to provide comprehensive staff administrative support, host breastfeeding training sessions, and help staff Baby Cafés®.

Linda Stopsky, RN, IBCLC, LCCE, CDE

Program Manager

Linda has been a RN IBCLC for 21 years and is the program manager. She has been a childbirth educator for 25 years and has received the "Excellence in Patient Education" award two years consecutively at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Additionally, Linda works as a lactation consultant at New York Presbyterian Hospital. For this project, she will manage on-site breastfeeding education of staff and breastfeeding champions at our partner sites and staffing of Baby Cafés®.

Associate Program Coordinators

Victoria Chi, BA

Victoria graduated from Dartmouth College in 2017 with a double major in Biology and Government. She previously worked as an intern in the global health policy office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She also has experience in public health research and biomedical research. She is thrilled at the opportunity to work with our partners to promote breastfeeding in the community.

Shannon Cleary, BA, CLC

Shannon graduated from Dartmouth College with a major in Biology and a minor in Anthropology of Global Health. She has done community health research and quality improvement projects to promote healthy lifestyles in under-resourced populations, as well as research on influenza epidemiology and ligand-binding in cancer-associated proteins. Shannon is a certified lactation counselor and is the lead in implementing all program activities and providing miscellaneous administrative support to community partners throughout Southampton.

Angie Lee, BA

Angie graduated from Dartmouth College in 2017 as a Hispanic Studies major. She has performed global public health research in areas of Latin America and Vietnam, looking at health disparities in different populations. She is anticipated to become a certified lactation counselor by the end of 2017 and will be the lead in implementing program activities and providing miscellaneous administrative support to community partners throughout Glen Cove.

Yingna Wang, BA

Yingna graduated from Dartmouth College in 2017, having studied Classical Languages and Literatures and Global Health. She previously worked at a community health center in Boston, MA and conducted health policy research at think tank in Washington, DC. She looks forward to working with our site partners to promote breastfeeding initiatives.

Former Associate Program Coordinators

El grupo BFREE

El grupo BFREE, en Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center (CCMC), fue uno de nueve grupos adjucado $1.2 millón del Departamento de Salud del Estado de Nueva York para crear las comunidades que promueve la lactancia materna en los condados de Nassau y Suffolk. Nuestro grupo comprime de individuos que han demostrado un alto nivel de experiencia y compromiso para amamantar. También tenemos experiencia anterior promocionando la lactancia materna en prácticas clínicas a través de nuestra beca del Departamento de Salud del Estado de Nueva York en 2011-2016 abordando la prevención de la obesidad pediátrica.