In recent years, Guilford County government has been highly focused on improving the health of newborns and infants during the first years of life and preventing infant mortality through proper newborn care.
County health staff are working with pregnant mothers before and after birth – as well as with families as a whole.
The Guilford County Division of Public Health has a lot of tools in its tool chest and now it’s adding another one: training a worker to become a certified lactation specialist.
Using $8,500 in grant money, the county will take part in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). That’s a government program that provides “nutrition education, breastfeeding support, referrals to health care and social services, and nutritious food for qualify parents, pregnant people, and young children.”
According to Guilford County health staff, the strength of the WIC depends on the “strength and diversity of its workforce,” of which certified lactation consultants and other breastfeeding advisors play a role.
The funds will be used to pay the tuition costs and other educational expenses that will pay for a WIC infant care counselor to attend the Human Lactation Pathway 2 Program at North Carolina A&T State University. That program provides the required hours of coursework and supervised practice in lactation consulting needed to apply and pass the International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants Exam.
Caseloads for Guilford County human services are high. As of March 2023, the WIC program in Guilford County had 15,153 clients. Since the start of this year, the program has received over 1,300 new referrals and has also enrolled 75 participants through outreach efforts in doctors’ offices and hospitals.
More govt intervention …need your population to be govt dependent.
Sigh.
John Q. Taxpayer is about milked dry already.
Since when does a woman need a lactation specialist? Lactation is a natural biological process that begins in pregnant women. Have humans become so removed from their own biology that a government lactation specialist is needed to teach and encourage a natural process? It is an easy and cost-free way to feed an infant, and the most nutritious.
Yu may be interested to know that while it is a natural biological process, several factors must be considered. The baby may or may not know how to latch on to the breast, the mother may be stressed or have physical restraints and her milk may not “let down” such as inverted nipples, tongue tied infants, infant remaining in NICU and nipple introduction, I could go on and on, but you get the concept, It’s NEEDED…
In the future, it may be helpful to know the role of the service provider and the needs of the community prior to making such comments.
“I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”….with your lactation efforts.
Geeez!
Will they be able to assist trans women with chest feeding?
Love all the guys here ‘mansplaining’ how breast feeding is sooooo easy that lactation consultants aren’t of value….must be conservatives.
How do you know they’re guys not gals?
Lol same comment crew that always posts here…feel like they are family. Oh, and how moronic the comments are about lactation consultants. Kinda a dead give away.
i need an erection specialist. when will the ‘mamby pamby’ provide that ?