Exclusive Breastfeeding Ana Zaragoza, Chelsea Young, Katrina Tran, Kristy Vu and Yesha Patel

Introduction Topic - Exclusive Breastfeeding Community - Infant Health - breastfeeding is an ideal food for an infant - necessity for healthy growth and development for an infant - positive effect on the reproductive process for the health of the mother By 2011, there are 18.8% of mothers who exclusively breastfed their infants through the 6 months (CDC, 2011). The advantages of exclusively breastfeeding for 6 months include a lower risk of gastrointestinal infection for the baby, more rapid maternal weight loss after birth, and delayed return of menstrual periods (WHO, 2011)

Women, Infant & Children (WIC) Education and support with materials such as breast pumps may be provided. Certified Lactation Educators are also available to help with questions about breastfeeding Organization Mission: To safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutrition risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care (USDA). Organization History: WIC was established as a permanent program in 1974 Orange County, four local agencies serve eligible participants. Design to eliminate major hunger and nutrition deficiency

Current Health Program The WIC Love Support Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Program helps women initiate and continue breastfeeding. Lack of knowledge related to the benefits of breastmilk was a risk factor for the lack of exclusive breastfeeding in this community. This program was created to address these barriers.

Loving Support Peer Counseling Program Program Goal: The goal of this program is to address the barriers associated with breastfeeding by providing education support and role modeling. Program Objectives: To encourage WIC participants to initiate and continue breastfeeding Increase referrals to WIC for breastfeeding support Increase general public acceptance and support of breastfeeding To provide technical assistance to WIC State and local agency professionals in the promotion of breastfeeding

Loving Support Peer Counseling Program How the Program Operates: WIC peer counselors are mothers in the community with personal breastfeeding experience. The personal experience these mothers have give them an opportunity to provide information and support to new moms. With assistance from a peer counselor supervisor, the breastfeeding coordinator of the local agency, the WIC nutritionist or nurse and the lactation consultant peer counselors share tips, answer common questions, and provide support through any challenges that may emerge. Peer counseling may take place at a hospital, a WIC clinic, mother’s group meetings and even at home (nal.USDA, 2005). This particular program has been running since 2004 and will continue on as long as the grant funding necessary to support the program is available.

Loving Support Peer Counseling Program The Data: Over 2.03 million infants participated in the WIC Program nationally. Approximately 29.5% of infants were breastfed nationally. 12.5% fully breastfed 17.1% partially breastfed Western Region had the highest percentage of infants reported as fully breastfed at 20.7% This data indicates an increase of 0.4% in fully breastfed infants nationally from 12.2% to 12.5%. http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/wic/FY-2013-Breastfeeding-Data-Local-Agency-Report.pdf

Cultural Competence Behaviors Respect for mother’s beliefs and knowledge Attitudes Positive attitude towards different race of mothers Prioritizing infant health by breastfeeding Skills Confident enough to share the experience with others during discussions Breastfeeding is a learned skill, something to keep in mind Open questions Empathize - show that you understand how she feels

Leadership/Key Contacts Laurence Obaid (Director of Orange County Health Center) lobaid@ochca.com (714) 834-7986 WIC Nutrition Breastfeeding Coordinators (California) Barbara Longo (Nutrition Coordinator, Deputy Division Chief) Barbara.longo@cdph.ca.gov (916) 928-8806 Erika Trainer (Chief, Nutrition Services Branch California WIC Program) Erika.Trainer@cdph.ca.gov (916) 928-8537