Lactation Supportive Environments
The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency’s (HHSA) Lactation Supportive Environments (LSE) project is implemented by University of California, San Diego–Center for Community Health and funded by First 5 San Diego. The LSE project focuses on increasing the initiation and duration of breastfeeding through lactation promotion, capacity building, policy implementation, systems enhancement, and environmental change strategies in worksites, school districts, childcare settings, and Community Healthcare Clinics (CHCs).
Early infant feeding practices can affect later growth and development in children and significantly impact their risk for infections and chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, and obesity. Working mothers, particularly those in low-income occupations, have lower rates of breastfeeding, and do not breastfeed as long as non-working mothers or those in higher income occupations.
Main LSE objectives include:
- Increasing access to environments that support working mothers in the initiation and duration of breastfeeding
- Increasing the number of breastfeeding-friendly childcare settings that adopt policies supportive of breastfeeding and lactation accommodation.
This project supports the County of San Diego’s comprehensive chronic disease prevention approaches, which are collectively referred to as Healthy Works.
The County of San Diego HHSA works with several local partners to execute LSE efforts:
- American Red Cross - Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
- North County Health Services
- San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition
- University of California, San Diego Center for Community Health (contracted partner)
To learn more about Lactation Supportive Environments, visit the University of California, San Diego LSE web page or send us an email.
For more information on how Healthy Works is building better health in San Diego County, please visit LiveWellSD.org/HealthyWorks or contact us at (619) 542-4110.
Back to Chronic Disease and Health Equity Unit.
Webpage last updated 7/9/2021.