Facilitating Breastfeeding in the Hospital: Creating a Menu for Cambodians

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Facilitating Breastfeeding in the Hospital
Creating a Menu for Cambodians Sharon Galvin RN
IBCLC Lindsay P. MacAuley MPH Lori B.
Feldman-Winter, MD, MPH Anne Merewood, MPH,
IBCLC Division of Maternal/Child, Saints
Memorial Medical Center, Lowell, MA Division
of General Pediatrics, Boston University School
of Medicine, The Breastfeeding Center, Boston
Medical Center (BMC), Boston, MA Department
of Pediatrics, The Children's Regional Hospital
at Cooper-UMDNJ-RWJMS, Camden, NJ.
BACKGROUND
CAMBODIAN MENU

• Saints Memorial Medical Center (SMMC), is an
  urban hospital in Lowell, Massachusetts with 700
  births per year.
• At SMMC, 8.8 of all births are to Cambodian
  women.
• Cambodian immigrants have one of the lowest
  breastfeeding rates in Massachusetts.
• 50 of Cambodian women breastfeed compared to 82
  of all Asian women breastfeed.
• Common beliefs among Cambodian patients
• - Balance of hot and cold foods are needed to
  restore health of mother.
• - Inability to follow cultural diet is believed
  to cause life long illness for mother and child
• - Adherence to diet is necessary in order to
  breastfeed
• During a breastfeeding staff training program,
  Project Hospital Education in Lactation Practices
  (HELP), discovered that a prime barrier to
  breastfeeding was absence of culturally
  acceptable foods in the hospital.

RESULTS

• April 2005
• Cambodian Menu Committee formed and informal
  interviews held with Cambodian families and
  Cambodian interpreters.
• May 2005
• Hospital chef and Food and Nutrition Department
  staff tested recipes.
• Director of Food and Nutrition and Chef ordered
  additional food items for Cambodian menu.
• Cambodian Menu publicized to nurses, physicians,
  interpreters and medical assistants.
• June 2005
• Cambodian menu implemented on the postpartum
  unit.
• January 2006
• IS Department added Cambodian menu option to
  computer system.

METHODS

• Created a Cambodian Menu Committee consisting of
  staff from nursing, food and nutrition service
  staff, interpreter services, MIS, and
  administration departments.
• Informally interviewed Cambodian families and
  Cambodian staff members to determine culturally
  appropriate foods.
• Tested recipes for authenticity and nutritional
  content with assistance of Cambodian interpreter,
  hospital chef and Food and Nutrition Department
  staff.
• Investigated financial feasibility by assessing
  cost of culturally specific foods that are not
  usually purchased by food and nutrition
  department.

CONCLUSION

• Due to increased awareness created by a
  breastfeeding
• training program for maternity staff, SMMC
  created a
• menu that allowed Cambodian women to breastfeed
  
• postpartum, while adhering to their cultural
  practices.

Project HELP funded by Theodore Edson Parker
Foundation and The Drane Foundation