Congratulations to Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) in Anchorage, Alaska, for becoming Baby-Friendly designated on May 22, 2019! ANMC was part of the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) CHAMPS program from 2015 until the end of the AI/AN CHAMPS grant in 2018. It is the largest tribal hospital i

The Elna Maternity Center, which shelters pregnant women and families with infants and children in central Athens, Greece, is today’s CHEER Champion of the Week! Elna became an independent non-profit on May 1st, 2019, but had already been housing refugees for a year in their current location, whic

CHAMPS is excited to honor the South Mississippi Breastfeeding Coalition (SMBFC), a relatively new group that is doing a great job supporting and promoting breastfeeding on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast! “Our coalition’s missi

This week the CHEER’s CHAMPion of the week is Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi (BCBSMS). BCBSMS has been nominated as CHAMPions for their proactive and enduring commitment to improving maternal and infant health in Mississippi through their Maternity Quality Model, and for their ongoing

This week’s CHEER Champion of the week is Nikos Varakis, MD, IBCLC, a pediatrician in private practice in Rethymnon on the southern Greek island of Crete, where he has worked since 2004. Nikos became an IBCLC in 2011. He is a founding member of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN)

This week’s CHEER Champion of the Week is Kirsten Krane, MS-MPH, RDN, Project Manager for CHEER. Kirsten started working for CHEER in 2014 and has done an excellent job managing a wide variety of projects. Sadly, Kirsten will be ending her work with us on May 3, 2019. We’d like to honor and than

Irene Paphiti, MD, IBCLC is President of the Cyprus Breastfeeding Association, ”Gift for Life,” of which she was a founding member in 2009. In this role, she represents the Association on the Cyprus Breastfeeding National Committee. Irene has been a pediatrician in private practice for 14 yea

Congratulations to CHEER Champion of the Week, Millicent (“Milly”) Barrios, CLC, Peer Counselor 3 for the Mississippi WIC Program (MS WIC) in the Southern Region/Mississippi Coast. Milly was nominated as CHEER Champion of the Week for her wonderful work with moms and babies on the Gulf Coast, an

This week’s CHEER Champion of the Week is CHEER International’s interpreter and peer breastfeeding counselor, Shaista Karimi, who works with the CHEER team in Athens, Greece. Shaista is originally from Afg

​Amanda Sterling, RN, BSN, IBCLC is a Lactation Consultant and CHAMPS Team Leader at CHAMPS hospital Merit Health Biloxi in Biloxi, Mississippi. She was nominated as CHEER Champion of the Week for all her hard work and the excellent job she is doing leading the Baby-Friendly journey at Merit Healt