Ok, my daughter and family have moved back to NC from Hawaii. While her husband is job hunting, she applied for WIC for an almost 1 yr old, and a 4 yr old. She went in for her first visit today. WIC still has a very long way to go in encouraging breastfeeding mothers apparently. She was asked how many times a day the baby drinks milk. She told the clerk he is exclusively breastfed with complementary solids. The clerk then asks if that is soy or cows milk. The clerk then asked for the number of oz he drinks each day. Stacy said she didn't know because he is breastfed. The clerk ( who was studying her computer screen instead of looking at Stacy), then said, will, I don't know what to record for amount. She thought for a minute and asked how many times a day does he nurse. Stacy said she really had never counted. The clerk said to give her a number-Stacy said 100! The clerk then asked how long she planned on doing that. Stacy said she thought of asking what do you mean by that-what holding him on my lap???? Then they told Stacy that he is iron deficient at a level of 10.7 No counseling, education, etc offered on increasing dietary iron, or even on retesting. They then turned their attention to Hunter, the 4 yr old and told Stacy he is too thin. Nothing was asked about his father who is 6 ft 5 and is a beanpole. Or Stacy who weighs 94 lbs. Or any family growth patterns-both families are slender.?Never mind that he is healthy, eats well ( fruits and veggies ), and plays hardily. Stacy did feel embarassed somewhat because the baby fussed and she had to nurse him in the WIC office and the clerk kept staring at her. I guess they don't see many yr old brestfed babies-well, I know they don't from seeing their breastfeeding?rates.?At one point the clerk even did the "sigh" of impatience. I couldn't resist after talking to Stacy. I called the WIC director and gave some suggestions for counseling tips using open ended questions like "tell me about his eating patterns during the day" instead of "how many ozs does he drink each day", and some sources for staff education ( hello-- I am right down the road and available for inservices!). Also the need for encouragement and support instead of using tones of voice and body language that implies lack of interest or disapproval. I tried to not be accusatory or seem to be attacking, but isn't WIC supposed to be encouraging breastfeeding.
Stacy came home and put on a pot of beans for supper, and plans on opening a can of my home canned beets for a side dish. She will also have cornbread but not for the baby. He will wash it all down with a helping of mamma's milk?at the original source.

Barbara Whitehead, BS, IBCLC, RLC
eastern NC
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