The psychological, economic, and overall health benefits of breastfeeding, for both infants and mothers, are well documented. However, many barriers to breastfeeding exist, including cultural norms, lack of family support, employment and lack of health services, particularly among disadvantaged and low-income populations. In an effort to overcome those barriers, breastfeeding promotion and support is a core component of the nutrition services provided by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to low-income women and children up to five years of age.
A new In Focus and Research Recap video from Mathematica Policy Research's WIC Breastfeeding Policy Inventory Study (WIC BPI) for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, shed light on the comprehensive range of policies and practices that WIC agencies use to promote breastfeeding. The first study to examine WIC agencies' breastfeeding policies, the WIC BPI surveyed 90 state-level agencies and nearly 1,800 local WIC agencies.
Mathematica found the following:
- Nearly 80 percent of local WIC agencies had at least one staff member with a breastfeeding credential.
- Two-thirds of local WIC agencies operated a peer counseling program to provide breastfeeding support. Peer counseling has been shown to be one of the most successful approaches to encourage mothers to breastfeed.
- Nearly all local agencies collected information about WIC participants' breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity, but only about half collected information about intensity.
The WIC BPI lays the groundwork for future research on how agencies’ breastfeeding policies and practices evolve over time and which practices are associated with better breastfeeding rates for different populations. Helping the USDA understand WIC agencies' currently breastfeeding measurement capabilities can contribute to the design of future breastfeeding reporting systems.
