Ten years ago the World Health Organization and UNICEF launched a global strategy to lay out a set of practices to reduce malnutrition and poverty.
Those practices include access to skilled support to initiate and sustain exclusive breastfeeding for six months and the timely introduction of adequate and safe complimentary foods with continued breastfeeding up to two years or beyond, and the empowerment of health workers to provide effective counseling.
Toward that effort, Koochiching County developed the Women, Infants and Children Loving Support Breastfeeding Counseling program.
Past WIC Breastfeeding Peers Jodi Reller and Pam Sutton and current WIC Loving Support Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Carissa MacLean were recently recognized for their efforts at a “Grow and Glow” event at Duluth in June.
MacLean was given a certificate of appreciation from the Minnesota Department of Health.
“We all have a place in supporting a mother’s choice to breast feed,” said Koochiching County Health Department Peer Coordinator Deb Larson, who is a public health nurse. “In my practice, I am especially humbled to see the challenges our mothers face and that we have supportive loving persons to help. These women have paved the way in educating, nurturing and promoting breastfeeding in our county.”
A sign in the county’s Health Department and WIC office says “Breastfed Babies Welcome Here!”
“We have wonderful moms who are helping other moms,” said Larson. “We are so glad to see the wonderment in moms’ eyes as they overcome a breastfeeding issue and succeed.”
There’s no less need for breastfeeding promotion now than there was 20 years ago, according to Larson. UNICEF’s most recent State of the World’s Children report shows that only 37 percent of babies 0-6 months of age are exclusively breastfed worldwide. The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement on breastfeeding and the use of human milk states, “Given the documented short- and long-term medical and neurodevelopment advantages of breastfeeding, infant nutrition should be considered a public health issue and not only a lifestyle choice.”
What’s happening in the future?
According to Larson, the Northeast Minnesota SHIP Program is supporting breastfeeding by working with WIC, public health departments, and clinics and hospitals to provide continuity and consistency of lactation care, educating about how the benefits of breastfeeding can help fight obesity and by sending breastfeeding support persons for additional training.
“With this support, Carissa and I were able to attend ‘Grow and Glow’ breastfeeding training in Duluth this past June,” said Larson. “We have learned that human milk is amazing and breastfeeding is so important for both the mother and baby’s health and wellbeing.”
