Annual Summit on Breastfeeding: A Decade of Science and Public Policy

Background

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Surgeon General’s Workshop on Breastfeeding and Human Lactation, a milestone commemorative event was held at the University of Rochester on June 11–12, 1984. Based on this model of merging academia with public policy, the concept of the Summitt was developed. From the start, the Summits were chaired by Ruth A. Lawrence, MD, FABM, who had chaired the event 25 years earlier. As a founder of ABM and the Editor-in-Chief of its peer-reviewed journal, Breastfeeding Medicine, she had the unique status, expertise, and track-record to guide this event. Cynthia R. Howard, MD, FABM, immediate past-president of ABM, and Senior Associate Editor of the journal, co-chaired the Summit. Based on the demonstrated need to improve breastfeeding rates as evidenced by national data, in particular within disadvantaged communities where children are most vulnerable, the goal was to generate policy recommendations and practice guidelines for a national breastfeeding agenda, with particular attention to strategies associated with addressing issues of “race and place.”

The information shared, based on scientific research and programmatic experience, provided the formulation of timely and pragmatic policies and best practices to ensure that disadvantaged populations would be able to increase breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity, effectively and expediently. This invitational Summit brought together 100 representatives of key government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels; academia; professional organizations; foundations; nonprofit organizations; and other stakeholders committed to improving breastfeeding rates. Participants reflected a range of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, anthropology, epidemiology, social work, and public health, and a range of professional roles, including service delivery, education, research, policy, and advocacy. As an important benchmark, the Summit began with opening remarks from C. Everett Koop, MD, former Surgeon General and current Director of the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth.

In addition to the blue-ribbon physicians who updated the audience on the latest evidence-based data, each Summit agenda included critical policymakers, including each Surgeon General, members of Congress, Senators, and White House leadership. Other influential leaders included CDC, WIC, AHRQ, FDA, Indian Health Service, Office of Women’s Health, Joint Commission, the World Bank, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, National Medical Association, American Medical Association, National Hispanic Medical Association, as well as city health commissioners.

This unique forum conceived and directed by Dr. Lawrence is another testimony to her real-world nonivory tower approach to further and implement breastfeeding for the welfare of the mother–infant dyad worldwide.

The full agenda of the First Annual Summit is provided here and the additional Summits are found in Supplementary Data S1and Supplementary Data S2 accompanying this commentary.