Erica Davis, BA, CHW, CLS

Building Bridges: Breastfeeding Peer Support in Community, Clinical, and Virtual Spaces

Erica Davis joined Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association in 2019 as a WIC breastfeeding community liaison, in conjunction with Michigan Public Health Institute, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In 2015, her most important role as a mother led her to explore new career opportunities in maternal child health. Erica believes that girls run the world and that cultivating Black women as leaders within the community and beyond is extremely important to increase health equity for black mothers and children.

Erica is a Flint, MI native, who has earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with a certification in Women’s Studies from University of Detroit Mercy. She is a certified lactation specialist, with several years of experience and credentials as a community health worker, educator, counselor, and advocate. She is also a Birth Equity Leadership Academy Leader at Health Connect One, and she is involved with SisterFriends Detroit. She is inspired by Detroiters’ commitment to community.

Erica is proud to come from a long line of breastfeeding women and she honors her family’s tradition in her work as a breastfeeding educator.

 

Session Summary:

Breast/Chest/Body-feeding Peer Support can be provided in a variety of settings for desirable breastfeeding outcomes. When community partnerships are cultivated more families have access to breastfeeding education and support. Peer Counselors integrated into clinical maternity-care models improve breastfeeding rates. Additionally, when community partnerships are achieved other professionals are able to convey breastfeeding information and identify available resources. While COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many barriers to breastfeeding peer support, innovative and engaging virtual support options have created new opportunities to reach families to support breastfeeding.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Explain ways in which peer breastfeeding support is an integral part of the prenatal care model.
  2. Describe how to cultivate partnerships between community-based organizations and clinical settings.