Champions Opens Two New Walk-In Breastfeeding Support Clinic Locations

in Town ‘n Country and Plant City

Champions for Children, with funding from BayCare Health System, is pleased to announce the opening of two new “Baby Cafe” walk-in breastfeeding clinic locations to provide professional lactation consultations and support to new moms and their babies. These new clinics are located at the Children’s Board Family Resource Centers in Town ‘n Country and Plant City. Baby Cafe clinics offer Hillsborough County’s only no-cost, professional, universal access lactation consultation services, which otherwise can cost upward of $150 per session on the private market and are unaffordable to many families in need of support. 

The new locations will join the Children’s Board Family Resource Center in Brandon, USF Pediatrics, and Layla’s House to bring the total number of sites countywide from three to five. In all, these five clinics are projected to serve more than 1,000 moms and babies this year alone. The generous four-year grant from BayCare Health will provide no-cost professional breastfeeding support consults on-site at the two new clinics, grow our capacity for individual appointment-based consults outside of the clinic setting, staff our breastfeeding “warm line” phone support, deliver prenatal education classes for families attending the new clinics, and eventually add a sixth and seventh clinic in the coming years.

“The lactation consultations are important for new moms and we are very excited to partner with BayCare Health to provide the service at two of the Children’s Board Family Resource Centers,” said Kelley Parris, Executive Director of the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County.

Evidence is clear that breastfeeding has a significant impact on the lifelong health of babies, including promoting proper development and secure attachment, reducing the incidence and severity of common illnesses, and protecting against abuse and neglect. Among low-income households in Hillsborough County, sustained breastfeeding rates are less than 1/4 of the 60% federally set target. Additionally, women of color initiate breastfeeding at rates far below white women. The need to invest in the unique services offered by Baby Cafes could not be clearer.

“We know that breastfeeding is the gold standard for infant nutrition,” said BayCare Community Benefit Director Lisa Bell. “By providing a safe and supportive environment for new moms, we’re making breast feeding an easy choice for jump-starting their baby’s healthy life.”

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please visit cfctb.org/program/abc-program/.