Collaboration to Expand Access to Breastfeeding Support Via Telehealth

January 06, 2023 - Connecticut Children's Care Network has entered into a partnership with Nest Collaborative to support Connecticut families and newborns through telehealth-enabled breastfeeding support.

Operating in over 50 locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Connecticut Children’s Care Network includes 37 independent pediatric practices and more than 200 pediatric primary care providers. The organization's facilities provide care to infants, children, and adolescents.

Through the new partnership with Nest Collaborative, Connecticut Children’s Care Network aims to provide more than 5,000 Connecticut families and newborns with a pre-and perinatal telehealth-enabled breastfeeding support network.

Based in Farmington, Connecticut, Nest Collaborative offers a virtual lactation platform. Through the platform, users can connect with a network of lactation consultants who provide virtual consultations. The Nest Collaborative nationwide network of international board-certified lactation consultants (IBCLCs) provides guidance on human lactation, supporting families feeding infants. They offer support and education on various aspects of breastfeeding, including supplementation and re-lactation.

Although breastfeeding is known to decrease the risk of maternal and infant disease, there are many barriers to the practice. This effort aims to mitigate the existing barriers, improving care for those in need.

"As pediatric primary care providers, we know the short and long term medical and neurodevelopmental advantages of breastfeeding," said David M. Krol, MD, medical director of Connecticut Children's Care Network, in a press release. "We also know that significant sociodemographic and cultural disparities exist in the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding. Nest Collaborative's International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) provide equitable, evidence-based guidance to our families when they need it most to help prevent and overcome breastfeeding challenges."

Nest Collaborative's IBCLC network is available seven days a week in all 50 states. They can provide support in more than 10 languages, including Spanish and Hebrew. Families with active insurance or Medicaid coverage can access Nest's services without copay or deductibles.

"We are thrilled that Connecticut Children's Care Network has selected Nest Collaborative to help improve care for families with newborns throughout the state," said Amanda Gorman, founder and chief clinical officer of Nest Collaborative, in the news release. "Connecticut Children's maintains the highest quality clinical standards for pediatric care and partnering with them is an honor. We're especially excited to join Connecticut Children's Care Network in bringing together the pediatric expertise that Connecticut Children's has to offer, with the quality of care that community physicians and our IBCLC's [sic] bring to caring for families and newborns."

Similarly, Nest Collaborative worked with Kettering Health in November 2022 to provide prenatal and postpartum virtual breastfeeding support to eliminate breastfeeding complications. The lactation consultants of Nest Collaborative also aimed to assist Kettering Health providers with the tasks they may not have time for, such as prenatal education to help families with breastfeeding preparation.

Another partnership launched in July 2022 involved Trinity Health of New England and Nest Collaborative joining forces to launch a telehealth-enabled breastfeeding support program that connected pregnant women and new mothers to the company's nationwide network of lactation consultants.

"It's incredibly important to me as an obstetrician that our patients see and learn about breastfeeding prior to delivery because you're going to convert a patient from a bottle feeder to a breastfeeder long before the baby's born," said Walter Trymbulak, MD, PhD, chair of the women and infants service line at Trinity Health of New England, in a phone interview with mHealthIntelligence. "And knowing that they have support and knowing that they have the information that they need to be successful prior to delivery is key."