Susan Bryant and Jennifer Riley

Patients who give birth at the Brigham often express interest in continued assistance with breastfeeding after discharge.

Thanks to the efforts of Lactation Support Services, the Brigham now offers this support via an outpatient lactation center.

In 2019, Susan Bryant, MSN, RN, IBCLC, professional development manager for Lactation Support Services, and Jennifer Riley, MSN, RN, IBCLC, came up with a proposal for the center that would improve timely access to ongoing breastfeeding support and care in lieu of referring families elsewhere.

Following approval, they formed an interprofessional team to design and implement this initiative and opened the Outpatient Lactation Center in October 2019.

The center facilitates continuity of care through seamless scheduling of breastfeeding support and follow-up care at the Brigham after discharge using evidence-based protocols.

This center supports our mission statement to “maintain and restore health through leadership in high-quality compassionate care, scientific discovery and education.”

Staff who participated in these efforts included: Rosemary McKitrick, MEd, BA, RN, IBCLC, HN-BC; Meghan McAdams, BSN, RN, IBCLC, HN-BC; Kelly Sheehan, BSN, RN, IBCLC, HNB-BC; Gina Abbascia, AD, RNC-IBCLC; Nicole Fiore, RN, IBCLC; Laurie Zani, BSN, RNC-MNN, IBCLC, LCCE; Ann Velie, MD; Jennifer Benjamin, MD; Claire Zaya, MSN, RN, NE-BC, RNC-MNN; Kathleen Ramos; and Kyle Iacovino

Why It’s Magnet: Magnet designation requires an example of an initiative in nursing practice that is consistent with the organization’s mission statement as part of the Transformational Leadership component (TL1) of the Magnet model. This is one of many examples throughout the Brigham demonstrating how nurses create transformational change in support of our mission.

It’s who we are.