Pam asked for ideas for getting WIC staff involved with bf promotion.

I strongly believe that staff education is one of the keys to a successful breastfeeding program. Like Jill
Meltzer, (Hi, Jill!) I was involved in the original NY peer counselling program. Our agency was blessed in
that the WIC Coordinator wass a dedicated IBCLC who really believed that good health care begins with
breastfeeding and was willing fight for her beliefs.

The very first thing we did was to arrange for a whole day workshop for key WIC staff. After various
exercises, they began to realise that breastfeeding is a learned behaviour. We discussed their own
experiences, feelings and prejudices, and showed them how they could promote breastfeeding however they had
fed their own children. We spent a long time dealing with guilt issues.

The program we developed integrated breastfeeding into the WIC program. Every pregnant mother was scheduled
to attend an infant nutrition class where it was assumed that she would be nursing her baby. We created an
atmosphere where breastfeeding was seen as normal. Mothers were asked, "What questions do you have about
breastfeeding?" rather than, "Are you going to breastfeed or bottle feed?"

Right from the beginning, staff were included in the peer counsellor training sessions, learning about the
benefits of breastfeeding, basic breastfeeding management and counseling skills.  When new staff joined the
program, part of their orientation program included peer counsellor training. We recognised that the
receptionist who answered a new client's call could have a tremendous impact on the way that mother fed her
baby.

Of course there were problems. For example, staff needed to be reminded that when a mother asked for
supplimentary formula, the correct response was to find out why she wanted it and be offered help in
resolving her problem, whether by giving her information about increasing her milk supply or loaning her a
pump to express her milk while working. Staff were not expected to become breastfeeding experts (unless they
showed an interest in this field,) but rather to have enough basic knowledge to know which mothers needed to
be referred for help.

This kind of program is dependant on good leadership. A WIC Coordinator who is also a breastfeeding advocate
will make sure that the staff she hires understands the importance and relevance of breastfeeding to the
health of mothers and babies. It is up to the state and federal WIC people to recognize breastfeeding as an
integral part of the WIC program and appoint Coordinators who are both willing and able to carry though with
these policies.


Norma Ritter, IBCLC, LLLL
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"If not now, when? If not us, who?"