I have been quietly watching the WIC discussion here. I have been working
two different WIC agencies since 1991 as an IBCLC, Breastfeeding
Coordinator. For a short while, I went into a hospital and did some
preliminary certifications. My goal there was to complete their paperwork
and make an appointment for the family to come in to the office. While
there I helped them with breastfeeding. The agency ultimately decided
this was not a good use of our time and discontinued the practice (and I
have since moved on to a different agency). But the women I saw in the
hospital had far better breastfeeding outcomes than the ones I did not see.
There are a couple of items I felt the need to address. WIC agencies do not
make money when women get formula. That is not the way it works. WIC local
agencies are funded based on case load, which means that their budget is
based on how many people are registered on their program. It doesn't make
any difference if the person is a woman getting vouchers for milk and
cereal, etc, or a baby getting nothing (but good education) because he/she
is exclusively breastfeeding. That is why we register exclusively
breastfeeding babies! They don't get ANY checks, but they still "count"
toward our caseload.
Secondly, infants should never get 3 months issuance of checks. Best
practice is to issue checks monthly so that we can keep an eye on things
(especially breastfeeding) and make sure the family gets the nutrition
education that WIC is famous for. I see breastfeeding dyads monthly, and
then every other month, until things are going smoothly. Even if a baby is
artificially fed, we need to make sure that feeding is going well, and that
there are no changes needed in the food prescription (you know how many
babies go from one infant formula to another before things settle down!)
We have pumps available for our moms, both hospital grade pumps that we
loan, and single user pumps for moms going back to work or school, as well
as skilled breastfeeding help for every new mother and baby. Part of that
skilled help is a group of Peer Counselors who are there to support the new
mother every step of the way. This is especially important to mothers who do
not speak English. Our mothers get the help they need when they need it,
and in the language that they speak.
WIC can be a breastfeeding mother's best friend, if the agency is doing
their job. I have stacks of letters from mothers telling us that they would
not have breastfed had they not been on WIC.
So, if it is done right, having a local agency in the hospital can be a
wonderful link for a new family to get great breastfeeding help once they
are discharged. I know that some of you out there know this (many IBCLCs in
the Bronx and Manhattan refer patients to me all the time) but for those of
you who don't, it might be a good hour spent talking to your WIC
breastfeeding coordinator. For mothers who can't otherwise afford it,
IBCLCs who work for WIC provide a wonderful service.
In the Bronx, we are known as the Breastfeeding people! (Actually, the term
is not quite so politically correct but you get the gyst!) Can you tell how
proud I am of the work we do?
Barbara Leshin-Zucker
Breastfeeding Coordinator
Morrisania WIC Program
Bronx, NY
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