I'm back from vacation and Passover is over and now I'll need forty days and
forty nights to catch up on all the Lactnets yet unread.  I just noticed
Laura E.'s post of 3/27 about the WIC enhanced breasfeeding food package.
 I'm a breastfeeding coordinator of our WIC program.  I agree with her that
our population is not going to choose to breastfeed just because we will
offer them carrot, tuna, extra cheese, extra juice, and beans, however, I
have found that for the mother who might have chosen to breastfeed and is
coming to WIC looking for supplemental formula, sometimes when I explain to
her that if she buys her own supplement the additional food we give her has
more monetary value than the few cans of formual she often does choose to
take the enhanced package and as a result she just  might breastfeed more and
not supplement as much if she has to pay for the stuff herself.   I work with
a population, in part, that doesn't often think it's their responsibility to
pay for anything themselves.  In this way the enhanced package may lead to
less supplementing, and thus increased breastfeeding success with longer
duration.  I haven't had the time to actually gather statistics on this but I
would really like to, but I'll never have that luxury of time.  I also agree
that when a mother takes a formual supplement she should have her food
package cut.