Outpatient Breastfeeding Champion Program: Breastfeeding Support in Primary Care.

Background: Breastfeeding support offered by trained professionals can increase breastfeeding success. The Outpatient Breastfeeding Champion (OBC) program creates a network of Breastfeeding Champions (typically nurses) who are trained to identify and resolve common breastfeeding issues and refer to lactation professionals as needed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact the OBC program on nurses' attitudes toward breastfeeding and self-confidence in providing breastfeeding care. Materials and Methods: The OBC program was implemented in 11 medical offices within a health care system. Nurses were surveyed before (n = 9) and immediately after (n = 9) participating in OBC training sessions, and 6 months following the implementation of the OBC training (n = 15). Data were collected on their breastfeeding attitude and self-confidence in providing breastfeeding care, and the responses at the different time points were compared using Wilcoxon Rank-Sum tests. Results: Nurses' attitudes toward breastfeeding (p = 0.049) and self-confidence in managing breastfeeding position and attachment (p = 0.09) were higher immediately after completion of the OBC training than they were before training. There was no significant difference in either response between immediately after completion and 6 months following training. Conclusion: This study presents a model of breastfeeding care that extends the reach of an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant to improve breastfeeding support in the primary care setting. Nurses' more positive breastfeeding attitudes and self-confidence in providing breastfeeding care following training suggest that the use of a breastfeeding training program may improve the breastfeeding support provided by nurses, which could be sustained over time.

Mirror-image responses in pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea).

Only a few nonhuman species (chimpanzees and orangutans) have displayed mirror-image recognition of themselves by grooming at a spot that can only be seen with the mirror. Pygmy marmosets have never been observed to self-groom, but they do behave toward mirrors in a manner suggestive of the early stages of mirror-image recognition. They displayed a rapid extinction of social threat responses to their own image and of novelty responses to mirrors, but continued to show mirror-specific responses such as following their own image, playing peek-a-boo, and looking at their image throughout a 28-day period of mirror exposure. The pygmy marmosets used a mirror to locate otherwise unseen conspecifics from other groups and directed threat responses toward the real location of these animals rather than to their mirror-image. Pygmy marmosets displayed the precursor behaviors to mirror-image recognition.