Media Release

CONTACT: Bethany DiNapoli, MS, RD, LDN 222-5958
WIC Breastfeeding Coordinator, Becky Bessette, MS, RD 222-4604 Chief, WIC Program
FOR: Immediate Release
DATE: August 1, 2000

Rhode Island WIC Program Celebrates World Breastfeeding Week

This year the Rhode Island Women, Infants and Children’s Program (WIC) is celebrating World Breastfeeding Week (August 1 to August 7) by sponsoring a number of events at local WIC sites around the State to promote breastfeeding and honor breastfeeding women. Each year, the Rhode Island Department of Health marks its progress in improving breastfeeding rates as a part of World Breastfeeding, an international celebration that marks the signing of the Innocenti Declaration. The Declaration, endorsed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, protects, promotes and supports breastfeeding worldwide.William H. Hollinshead, MD, MPH, Director of the Division of Family Health, Rhode Island Department of Health says, "The Department of Health has long been committed to breastfeeding. Our Rhode Island WIC Program has made tremendous progress over the past several years in increasing the number of women who choose to breastfeed. I would encourage all women to seriously consider breastfeeding their babies because of the health benefits to both the mothers and their babies."The WIC Program has developed a number of initiatives over the past several years to promote breastfeeding including, the Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program and the hospital-based Tender Lactation Care (TLC) Program. WIC Peer Counselors, all of whom have breastfed and have benefited from the WIC Program in the past, reach out to pregnant women on the program and encourage them to breastfeed. Peer Counselors provide ongoing support to the mother and baby for as long as she breastfeeds. Currently, 19 out of 23 WIC agencies statewide have Breastfeeding Peer Counselors. The TLC Program, based at Women and Infants’ Hospital, includes certified lactation consultants who visit WIC mothers in the hospital making sure they get off to a good start with breastfeeding, and re-connecting them with their Peer Counselor once discharged.While these and other initiatives have increased the number of WIC clients who choose to breastfeed, more work is still needed to meet the 2010 national breastfeeding objective that 75% of all women breastfeed their babies in the early post-partum period. Currently, only 57% of all Rhode Island women are breastfeeding their babies when they leave the hospital. The Department of Health and the Rhode Island Breastfeeding Coalition are engaging in a comprehensive effort to see that this national breastfeeding goal is met by the year 2010.

For more information on breastfeeding or WIC World Breastfeeding Week events, call the Family Health Information Line at 1-800-942-7434.