Breastfeeding Hawaii’s mission is to protect, promote and support breastfeeding through the education of and collaboration with professionals involved in maternal-child health, and serve as a community breastfeeding advocate in the State of Hawaii.

Breastfeeding Hawaii proposes a community-based project that elevates the voices of nursing families, with a specific focus on Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island communities, to achieve a solution for increasing access to community breast/chestfeeding supports. Breastfeeding Hawaii seeks to bring together the wisdom and knowledge of the nursing communities and their support systems to change a Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) policy that requires a physician, physician-assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse license in order to reimburse for breastfeeding support services.

CSHE has helped Breastfeeding Hawaii focus in more on the needs and wants of the communities by giving them the space to facilitate important conversations with insurance companies, providers and parents on most of our islands in Hawaii. “This CSHE opportunity has helped us see that collectively, it is the families who are at the top and we need to listen to them in what they need and have insurance companies and others come to them in seeking to know more about how they can do better.” CSHE has allowed BF Hawaii to truly value and empower themselves to make their dreams a reality so that their indigenous breastfeeding parents have culturally-competent care and support.