On May 15, I attended the launch of the Infant Feeding Collaborative, a new initiative managed by Beverly’s PGH—and it was one of those events that reminds you why local partnerships matter. The goal of the Collaborative is simple but powerful: make sure babies get fed, and make sure families feel supported—no matter what that feeding journey looks like.
According to the CDC, while 83% of U.S. babies start out breastfeeding, only about 25% are still exclusively breastfed at 6 months. A lot of families end up combination feeding or switching to formula – because life happens. According to HHS, 60% of parents don’t breastfeed as long as they intended. They’re dealing with things like low milk supply, the need to return to work, mental health struggles, lack of education around it, lack of family support or a combination.
WIC, the federal nutrition program, is a key support system. But even in Pennsylvania, it’s underused – only about half of eligible families are enrolled. The highest participation rates are among infants (around 78%), but drop off sharply for pregnant women and toddlers. It’s a big gap, especially when so many families could benefit from help with either breastfeeding support or formula access.
The other thing we can’t ignore: birth outcomes. According to March of Dimes, about 1 in 10 babies in the U.S. is born too early, and about 1 in 12 is born with low birthweight. In Pennsylvania,
those numbers are slightly better but still concerning. And the disparities are real – black mothers in PA are significantly more likely to deliver preterm than white mothers. That makes reliable, stigma-free infant feeding support even more important.
The Infant Feeding Collaborative is Beverly’s PGH’s latest effort to meet families where they are. If you are not familiar with Beverly’s PGH, they run the state’s first public infant formula bank and
already do a lot of work around basic needs and maternal care. This new initiative brings together hospitals, health plans, and nonprofits to look at the full picture – data, access, equity, stigma – do something about it.
The event featured an excellent panel that included Dr. Patrick Tate, a pediatrician with UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics; Renae Green, the lead lactation consultant at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital; Jeaonna Hodges, the lead doula at The Birth Circle; and Diana Byas, Maternity Care Manager at UPMC Health Plan. These professionals brought their insight into how healthcare systems and community-based organizations can – and should – work together to support all kinds of feeding journeys.
Their message was clear: parents need practical support, not pressure. And every parent deserves to feel confident in how they’re feeding their child. Panelists emphasized that ‘fed is best’ isn’t a
fallback – it’s a valid, supported path that leads to thriving babies and parents. From milk banks to lactation care that takes culture, as well as practicality into consideration, to formula access and prenatal education, the work being done is holistic and thoughtful.
Beverly’s PGH surveyed over 500 families they had supported in other ways, and that data really shaped the conversation. It brought the lived experience front and center and helped us better understand what families are actually going through. Of those who planned to exclusively breastfeed, only 41.9% were able to do so. Nearly 40% reported feeling judged for how they fed their babies. But those who had access to WIC, formula banks, or lactation help were more likely to report feeling confident that their baby was healthy and getting what they needed.
I kept thinking about how this connects to the work many of our ACMS members are already doing. Our OBGYNs and Pediatricians are the first stop for many families—you have those conversations about feeding before and after birth. You know that no two situations are alike. Many of our women physicians have lived their own version of new motherhood and could relate to this, if not clinically, then personally.
It’s also worth noting that Beverly’s PGH is one of the 501c3 organizations the ACMS Foundation has proudly supported through our community grant cycle – and has for several years now. This is exactly the kind of grassroots innovation our Foundation is meant to uplift.
I see how this ties into our ongoing conversations around maternal mental health and systems of care. We already know that guilt and shame around feeding can affect well-being. According to the NIH, over two-thirds of formula-feeding moms report feeling stigma. It’s an avoidable stressor, and this initiative is tackling it head-on.
The Collaborative is just getting started, but it’s already offering a model for how to bring together clinical care, public health, and community-based solutions. It’s acknowledging that “fed is best” is a real strategy for improving health outcomes, equity, and family trust in the system.
This is something our physician members – especially OB-GYNs, pediatricians, and those in maternal-child health – can lean into. By staying connected to efforts like this and pointing families to these resources, we can help shift the culture toward support instead of shame.
The initiative isn’t just “nice to have” – it’s a group of people committed to making actionable steps to fill a system-wide gap.
If you would like to learn more or join the collaborative, please feel free to fill out this form.