How to Use - mPINC™ Tool

Step One: Review and prepare

• Review background material, including CDC's mPINC survey, scoring algorithm, and WHO's Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding (Ten Steps).
• Gather mPINC Hospital Reports for the hospital you wish to assess.
  • If state health departments do not have the Hospital Reports, they can request facility-level data on hospitals in their states from CDC by contacting mpinc@cdc.gov. Hospitals may also request their own hospital's report from CDC by contacting mpinc@cdc.gov.
  • If a hospital has not completed the mPINC survey recently, mPINC questionnaires are available for use. Hospitals can use the mPINC scoring algorithm and this tool to score and assess responses.

Step Two: Input data into tool

• Find the tool or download fillable versions of the tool at the bottom of each step of the mPINC Ten Steps Assessment Tool website.
• Use the mPINC Hospital Report, requested data, or completed mPINC­ questionnaire to note the hospital's response to each item. Compare the hospital's response to the ideal response for each item.

Step Three: Use results to help inform improvement efforts

• Assess the hospital's alignment with each of the Ten Steps by noting how often the hospital selected the ideal response for items corresponding to each step.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses in maternity care practices and policies to help plan quality improvement initiatives.

Using findings from the mPINC Ten Steps Assessment Tool

Hospitals can use results to help assess its implementation of each of the Ten Steps. Hospitals can assess step alignment by noting how often the hospital selected the ideal response for the corresponding mPINC items.

Hospitals can use findings to identify gaps, celebrate achievements, plan for improvement, and bring together partners to prioritize next steps. For example, say a hospital did not choose ideal responses for most of the items in Step Seven. The hospital can change practices and policies related to rooming-in.

Have you used this tool? We want to hear from you about your experiences. For any questions or comments on this tool, please contact mpinc@cdc.gov.