# Presentation: 437810

## Breastfeeding: A WIC Priority

- Improves health outcomes for infants
- Fewer infections and disease
- Improved IQ
- Lower rates of obesity and diabetes
- Improves health outcomes for mothers
- Faster recovery from pregnancy
- Lower risk of breast cancer
- Reduces health care costs

## WIC Breastfeeding Rates

## Peer CounselingMakes A Difference!

- Improves initiation and duration rates among women in:
- Disadvantaged populations
- Varied cultural groups
- Urban and rural settings
- Peer counseling has been used effectively in many WIC State and local agencies across the U.S.

## Who Are Peer Counselors?

- Experienced breastfeeding mothers
- Ideally a current or previous WIC client
- Ideally from the same population group as the that served by WIC
- Enthusiastic about breastfeeding, and helping other mothers enjoy a positive experience
- Provide basic breastfeeding information and support to WIC mothers

## The Power OfMother-To-Mother Connections

*“**That’s what it’s **all about...moms helping moms.*
- WIC Peer Counselor

## How Peer Counselors Help

- Serve as a model for breastfeeding
- Establish a connection with the family
- Help mothers prevent and manage common concerns with breastfeeding
- Provide ongoing encouragement to help mother meet her breastfeeding goals
- Link to breastfeeding help beyond the usual 8-to-5 services
- Fill the gap in services immediately after hospital discharge for seamless continuity of care

## WIC Healthcare Team

- As part of the WIC healthcare team, peer counselors:
- Free up staff time by taking *time *to help mothers explore and address barriers and concerns
- Make referrals to WIC staff if mother has questions or concerns outside her scope
- Promote WIC with participants and family members, encouraging participation
- Provide information for WIC team that affect health and nutritional status of client and her children

## USDA’s Vision ForPeer Counseling

- Institutionalize peer counseling as a core service in WIC
- Provide leadership and resources to equip State and local WIC agencies with implementing peer counseling programs
- Two training curricula for WIC agencies
- “Using *Loving Support *to Manage Peer Counseling Programs”
- “*Loving Support *Through Peer Counseling”

## Basic Job ResponsibilitiesFor Peer Counselors 

- Accept referrals of pregnant and breastfeeding WIC clients for follow-up
- Contact women at critical intervals
- Monthly during pregnancy
- Frequently during early days of breastfeeding
- Monthly as long as baby is breastfeeding
- Be available to mothers beyond usual WIC clinic hours
- Document all contacts with mothers
- Make referrals of women with concerns

## Job Settings

- Telephone calls from home and the clinic
- Clinic visits
- Home visits
- Hospital visits

## Peer CounselorsAre Well Trained!

- Attend formal series of breastfeeding classes
- Personal study
- Observe/shadow a lactation professional (such as an IBCLC or senior peer counselor)
- Observe WIC nutritionist
- Ongoing training

## Compensation

- Paid hourly for all contacts made with WIC participants, including documentation
- Will complete weekly activity reports and submit to supervisor

## Supervision

- Peer counselors will:
- Be supervised by local agency coordinator
- Receive weekly contacts from supervisor
- Attend monthly staff meetings
- Complete contact logs
- Have work spot checked

## A Little UnderstandingGoes A Long Way! 

- This may be the peer counselor’s first job
- Mentor her by modeling professionalism
- As a WIC participant herself, her life has similar stresses to other WIC clients
- Loneliness and stress of listening to other people’s problems can lead to burnout
- Bringing her nursing baby to the clinic helps model breastfeeding for other WIC mothers
- Although she may “come and go” to the clinic, she is on call to handle emergency breastfeeding situations

## How You Can SupportPeer Counselors

- Tell her she’s a valued member of the WIC team!
- Assist in recruiting qualified peer counselors
- Provide referrals of pregnant and breastfeeding WIC clients
- Include peer counselors in WIC clinic meetings and activities
- Reinforce her education to WIC mothers with consistent, accurate breastfeeding information

## Create A Breastfeeding-FriendlyEnvironment In The WIC Clinic

- Stay up to date with your own breastfeeding knowledge
- Ensure the WIC clinic provides positive messages of *Loving Support *for breastfeeding
- Actively promote the peer counseling program with WIC participants

## 						        WIC Staff Member

*	**	**	**	**	**	**        *WIC Staff Member

## Peer Counseling: Making ADifference For WIC Families!