WIC offers peer support to breast-feeding moms

North country mothers enrolled in the Women, Infants and Children federal supplemental feeding program now can receive helpful breast-feeding hints from WIC's peer counseling program.

The peer program should help increase breast-feeding initiation and duration, according to Barbara J. Rascoe, the North Country Children's Clinic's St. Lawrence County WIC coordinator.

"We basically empower the women to keep going, and try different things and encourage them, and tell them they can do it," Mrs. Rascoe said. "It's just that positive reinforcement."

Many new mothers experience difficulties breast feeding, and some might give up a little too early, she said.

"We'd like to get at least six months of exclusive breast feeding, but it'd be nice to get a year without formula use at all," she said. "It's so much healthier to breast feed; it decreases obesity, diabetes and so many things. Any amount of breast milk you can give a baby is beneficial."

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Web site, breast feeding is linked to lowering the risk of many health problems in infants, including ear infections, asthma, diarrhea and stomach viruses.

Two of the most common reasons mothers stop breast feeding, Mrs. Rascoe said, is they don't think their baby receives enough breast milk or their baby latches poorly to the breast.

A peer counselor will help mothers experiencing these problems by talking with them at their WIC appointments or over the phone, or even stopping by for home visits.

"They're very good about calling a week or two before delivery to make sure everything's still pretty good, and following up after delivery, and in some cases we go right to the hospital," Mrs. Rascoe said.

The peer program soon will have facilitated groups where breast-feeding mothers can meet and discuss issues and share solutions with their peers. For now, there is one-on-one counseling for 84 participants in Jefferson County, 27 participants in Lewis County and 170 participants in St. Lawrence County. The program in Franklin County has only two participants, but the WIC office is training a new peer counselor to take over the program.

Each WIC office should have a report by early next year to see exactly how the program is working for each county.

The program is free for eligible women enrolled in the WIC program, and is done in coordination with each county's Cornell Cooperative Extension offices.

For more information, call Mary Beth Knowlton, acting Jefferson County WIC coordinator, at 782-9222; Karen Ritz, the Lewis County WIC coordinator, at 376-6427; Mrs. Rascoe, the St. Lawrence County WIC coordinator, at 386-8128, or Cindy Louey, the Franklin County WIC coordinator, at 1 (518) 483-4262.