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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
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MN WIC Breastfeeding Rates 2005
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
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Initiation
6 months
Healthy People 2010 Goal
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MN WIC
12 months
Local Agency WIC
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.
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Who Are Peer Counselors?
• Experienced breastfeeding mothers
• Ideally a current or previous WIC client
• Ideally from the same population group as
that served by WIC
• Enthusiastic about breastfeeding, and helping
other mothers enjoy a positive experience
• Provide basic breastfeeding information and
support to WIC mothers
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The Power Of
Mother-To-Mother Connections
“That’s what it’s
all about…moms
helping moms.
WIC Peer Counselor
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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
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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
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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”
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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
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Job Settings
• Telephone calls from
home and the clinic
• Clinic visits
• Home visits
• Hospital visits
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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
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Compensation
• Paid hourly for all contacts made with WIC
participants, including documentation
• Will complete weekly activity reports
and submit to supervisor
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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
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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
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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
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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
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“One of the most important things we can do is to
nurture and support our peer counselors. We find that
the more we do to encourage and support them, the
better they are at working with WIC moms.”
WIC Staff Member
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Peer Counseling: Making A
Difference For WIC Families!
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