A Roadmap to Improving Breastfeeding

Supporting breastfeeding is an essential strategy in addressing New Jersey's racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and infant birth outcomes. Human milk is nature’s first food that contains the nutritional and immunological components needed for infants’ optimal growth and development.

Breastfeeding and lactation also provide important short- and long-term maternal health benefits. While many New Jersey parents initiate breastfeeding, rates drop quickly over the early postpartum weeks and months due to societal and support barriers.

The 2022-2027 New Jersey Breastfeeding Strategic Plan is a blueprint of actions that can be undertaken across the State to improve lactation support and to normalize breastfeeding.  Central Jersey Family Health Consortium has been charged with implementing the Breastfeeding Strategic Plan in collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Health and in partnership with organizations and stakeholders across the state.

NJ Supports Breastfeeding is the public campaign that brings the New Jersey Breastfeeding Strategic Plan to life and promoting its goals and initiatives by raising awareness of programs and resources for providers, breastfeeding parents and their support systems.

The Breastfeeding Strategic Plan contains eight major goals and numerous strategies focused on these issue areas:

As seen in the infographic below, New Jersey's rate of exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months is lower than the national average.  In New Jersey, breastfeeding initiation rates vary across race and ethnicity, with non-Hispanic Black birthing parents breastfeeding at a lower rate at hospital discharge than non-Hispanic White birthing parents. The Breastfeeding Strategic Plan seeks to address those disparities in breastfeeding rates to achieve health equity. 

For More Information

Call the Breastfeeding Strategic Plan team at 732-937-543, ext. 104 or email:

Ellen Maughan, emaughan@cjfhc.org

Videsha Joshi, vjoshi@cjfhc.org