Abstract
The need to support and promote breastfeeding is unquestionable. The World Breastfeeding Week 2013 theme, "Breastfeeding Support: Close to Mothers," focuses on "breastfeeding peer counseling." Mother support groups are traditionally community-based and little is published about peer-to-peer support for mothers who have critically ill newborns. This study describes the development of a support group established in a children's hospital. The Group of Empowered Mothers focuses on a unique population of mothers (those with critically ill hospitalized infants) and involves 3 basic tenets: healthcare provider support; mother-to-mother support; and Certified Breastfeeding Consultant Support.