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Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative

MOM Initiative

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Mother's Own Milk Initiative

MOM Project's Sustainability Phase has come to an end, but you can continue to track your data! Visit the MOM Initiative Toolbox to download data tools and other helpful resources!

Breast milk is the optimal source of nutrition for babies, especially those under 1,500 grams at birth. Benefits include improved gastrointestinal maturity, better feeding tolerance and reduced risk of life-threatening infections such as sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis. Infants fed human milk have lower mortality, better visual development, fewer chronic diseases later in life (including obesity, diabetes, asthma and cancer) and higher IQ scores. Breast feeding promotes mother-infant bonding, improves mother's health, and reduces length of stay and health care costs. 

However, only 45.7% of very low birth weight infants cared for in Florida NICUs in 2013 received any breast milk through discharge. FPQC proposes an evidence-based statewide NICU quality improvement initiative to determine and remove barriers to human milk use for these at-risk infants.

Preemie baby being fed

Project Aim

Increase the number of very low birth weight infants in Florida's NICUs who receive at least 50% of their feedings as mothers own milk at discharge.

Project Focus

  • Intent
  • Establishing Supply
  • Maintaining Supply
  • Transitioning to the Breast

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