Wellstart International

Wellstart International is a nonprofit organization with (501) (C) (3) tax deductable status. It was launched originally as the San Diego Lactation Program (SDLP) in 1979-1980. Initially the SDLP was within the Department of Community and Family Medicine of the University of California San Diego Medical School and was a component of the perinatal s... ervices and teaching of the University of California San Diego Medical Center. In 1983 with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) SDLP added an international faculty education and development program, The Lactation Management Education Program (LMEP). The program design included bringing multidisciplinary, leadership level teams of health care providers (OB, Pediatricians, Family Practitioners, Nurses, Nurse Midwives and Nutritionists) from teaching hospitals from several countries together for 3 weeks of lactation management education and skill development and 1 week of planning a program that they would undertake upon returning home. A follow-up visit was provided to their home site at the invitation of the team sometime after their program was underway. The conversion of the SDLP to an independent nonprofit organization, Wellstart International, and a move to a nearby but separate location occurred in 1985. A primary objective of LMEP was to create a "cascade" of skilled and knowledgeable leaders in medical, nursing and nutrition education that could make needed changes in their curriculum as well as the services provided to mothers and babies that would promote successful breastfeeding. The program was considered quite successful and in the 15 years of continuation, 655 health care providers from 55 countries (including the United States) became Wellstart Associates. A follow-up study of 40 of these Associates undertaken at the request of UNICEF in 2003 suggested that the program through the cascade of training approach, had changed the care given to mother-baby pairs in hundreds of hospitals, modified curriculum in a ...Read More