WIC raises breastfeeding awareness during August
COSHOCTON – August is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month and WIC is trying to raise breastfeeding awareness by offering an open house to be held in the County Services Building on Aug. 4, 11, 18, and 25 from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Any breastfeeding or pregnant mom is invited to attend one or all of the open houses where you can get information on county resources available to you and your child, eat, and win prizes. The theme this year is “Working Together for Breastfeeding Success”.
Every year, a variety of vendors are invited to set up a display and talk with mothers who come through on how their organization can help them and their child. A lot of vendors this year have committed to at least two dates of the open houses. The goal of having the four separate dates is to hopefully reach more moms and help educate women on the benefits of breastfeeding.
There are many benefits to breastfeeding, some of which include bonding between mother and child, healthier babies, children with higher IQs than those who are bottle-fed, and moms who breastfeed can cut their chances of ovarian and breast cancer significantly. On average, a family who breastfeeds saves $1,250 a year due to not needing to buy formula. It’s also been proven that nursing moms lose their baby weight much quicker than those who bottle-feed, and breastfeeding may even help decrease the risk of SIDS as the baby wakes more often through the night.
If you are eligible for WIC and have any trouble breastfeeding, you are encouraged to call their office and speak to their lactation consultant. Even if you don’t qualify for WIC, they can set you up with a consultant from the hospital where you delivered.
“We encourage moms to call us with any questions or concerns,” said Natasha Neale. “We want to catch any problems at the start before the mom is ready to quit.”
If there is any pain while breastfeeding, Neale said it’s almost always an issue of how the baby is latching on to the breast. A simple repositioning of the baby may be able to solve the problem. For some mothers, not producing enough milk to satisfy the baby is also a problem.
“If you’re drying up, the more the nipple is stimulated, the more milk you’re going to produce,” said Melissa Moore. “So we encourage women to either pump or get the baby to the breast more often.”
As with pregnant moms, medications should be monitored by a doctor when breastfeeding, although Neale and Moore said that most medications are safe to take while breastfeeding.
“We encourage moms to come to the open houses to see what’s available,” said Neale. “There are a lot of community resources out there they may find that can help them or someone they know.”
beth@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: Clubs & Organizations
