WIC visit today

[Mama Poot]

A mom came in with a 5 day old baby. Adorable little boy. It was her 3rd child, she told me. Towards the end of my visit, she was in the same room getting started with her visit, and the nutritionist asked her if she was breastfeeding or had ever nursed the baby at all and she said no. Aside from wanting to vomit overhearing that, I was floored that that was all the farther the conversation went. HOW THE HELL IS THAT SUPPORTIVE OF BREASTFEEDING?

"Are you breastfeeding?"
"No"
"Ok"

WTH? They are supposed to support and educate women on this stuff, there was no supporting or educating going on today! I don't give a flying LEAP if this was her third kid, I wouldn't care if it was her 20th! She needs to be informed, she DESERVES to be educated on breastfeeding. Sickening, absolutely sickening- and I'm not gonna say any more because I might be getting a job with WIC soon....Boy howdy I'm gonna turn that place around, yall just wait and see!

[guest9921]

Originally Posted by Mama Poot

I'm not gonna say any more because I might be getting a job with WIC soon....Boy howdy I'm gonna turn that place around, yall just wait and see!

Good for you, Mama Poot - I hope you get the word out there, and offer gentle support and encouragement - something all of us could use.

[wanderlost]

Please do.
I think WIC is a great program - but when my son was born at 34.5 weeks, I borrowed a pump from them (I honeslty don't know why I thought I needed one now, but I was told my baby had low blood sugar and I needed to get the juices flowing...??) - so WIC brought one right to my hospital room which was great - except no one ever informed me about nipple confusion, and I knew nothing about it. That pump ruined my nursing relationship (and yes, I certainly shoulder plenty of the blame). I really really wish someone would have eductaed me better about that, and with WIC being so supposedly bf friendly, you'd think they would have made a point of explaining things like nipple confusion as they are giving a new mom a hospital grade pump!

[sparklefairy]

Originally Posted by wanderlost

Please do.
I think WIC is a great program - but when my son was born at 34.5 weeks, I borrowed a pump from them (I honeslty don't know why I thought I needed one now, but I was told my baby had low blood sugar and I needed to get the juices flowing...??) - so WIC brought one right to my hospital room which was great - except no one ever informed me about nipple confusion, and I knew nothing about it. That pump ruined my nursing relationship (and yes, I certainly shoulder plenty of the blame). I really really wish someone would have eductaed me better about that, and with WIC being so supposedly bf friendly, you'd think they would have made a point of explaining things like nipple confusion as they are giving a new mom a hospital grade pump!

Not the pump but the bottle! There are other ways of getting mother's milk into a baby who is not ready to nurse at the breast than a bottle.

[EMAID]

Like a year and a half ago I went to my local WIC office to apply. I was tandem nursing two under 2 at the time. Everything went fine, but then when they weighed my baby they said he was "at risk of malnutrition" because he was small. Well, then they started telling me that they needed to get me some bfing help. I was appalled; he was nursing just fine, and I certainly had enough bfing experience to know if there was a problem. Then they started analyzing my diet and they were telling me how they'd never heard of someone nursing two children at a time before, and I must have to eat an awful lot of food to do that??? Then the next thing was that I told her that neither I nor my older daughter drink milk, and then they tried to tell me that without drinking milk there was no way that I was taking in enough calories to nurse two children. I literally laughed at them. I was 5'4" and almost 200 lbs. at the time.
Well, when they gave me all the coupons I had enough for like 6 gallons of milk a month, plus Juicy Juice, which I didn't allow my daughter to drink, and non-natural peanutbutter, which we don't eat. I went home and thought about it for a few hours, and then drove back and told them that the coupons they gave me weren't going to help me and it wasn't worth my trouble, and quit.
The next day a "bfing specialist" calls me. She apparently hadn't gotten the message that I'd quit. She starts telling me that my son is underweight (the dr didn't think he was underweight, so I'm guessing they were using the formula charts) and that meant that he probably wasn't getting enough milk, and had I considered contacting my local LLL leader about this. I told her that my local LLL leader was my closest friend and that I was considering applying myself, and that I had enough nursing experience to know that he was getting enough milk. The next thing out of her mouth was to ask me if I'd consider becoming a bfing peer counselor. So one minute my son is malnourished and I need bfing counseling and the next minute they want me to BE a bfing counselor. :
Anyway, that was my WIC experience. I could tell they thought I was totally weird for tandem nursing.

[lacysmommy]

I got looked at like I had two heads when I nursed my 21 month old on my lap with my hugely 9 month preggo belly in the way at a WIC office. I just informed her that my midwife was aware of my nursing while pregnant and was fully supportive and that was the end of that. For me, standing my ground helped out the best. That way they aren't able to treat you like a lower class person, like I have found they often do.

[wryknowlicious]

I was on WIC with my 1st DD.
My office did not have any BFing classes or in office support, and when I asked about that they told me point blank that I was the only one assigned to that location who BF since you get formnula for free.
WIC gives you seperate appointments for your children and you - they are usually 3 motnhs apartt but due to some conflicts mine ended up being 5 weeks apart. So one appoinment was when DD was 11 months old, speak with nutritionist, tell her i am *still* BFing and she's all pat o nthe back thats great keep it up etc etc .
5 weeks later talk with nutrionist and mention DD still gets plenty of BM so she doesn;t need the cows milk and she tells me:
"well you know that there is no nutritional value for her to be nursing once she turns 12 months, you should really quit that and make sure she gets enough cows milk. Whole milk is what they need to be on after 12 months and WIC doesn't supprt BFing after that - we won;t be giving you any extra beans, tuna or peanutbutter anymore"

: : :

I didn;t ewven bother telling her I was already 4.5 months along with #2, and even tho I really needed the extra food help - I quit WIC right there. I couldn;t stand to go even one more time.

[wanderlost]

Originally Posted by sparklefairy

Not the pump but the bottle! There are other ways of getting mother's milk into a baby who is not ready to nurse at the breast than a bottle.

yes, the bottle. I wish I would have known what I know now...:

[SashaBear]

We just started WIC last week. They don't take into account any allergies or personal choices! We don't have any allergies but considering every food they give is a common allergy they should take it into consideration. I kinda wish I had lied when they saw that DS had not had any milk that day and said he was allergic. I mean eggs, wheat, dairy, and peanuts. Not too mention juice! I rarely give my son juice. My ped says not to give it to him. She thinks its one of the main reasons kids are overweight today.
And yea I get tuna when I start breastfeeding. I don't eat fish because my mom is allergic to it! We never had it in our house so I have never developed a taste for it.
And they said the new baby will receive her own checks once its time for cereal. I guess they don't know that cereal is no longer recommended for babies?

[Mama Poot]

Originally Posted by EMAID

Everything went fine, but then when they weighed my baby they said he was "at risk of malnutrition" because he was small.

Innnnnteresting, I was fed a similar line yesterday because my 6 month old is still exclusively breastfed. They weighed him and he weighs 15lbs. Okay so a little less than what I'd thought, but he's 25 inches long, he's healthy, has super-chubby cheeks, in fact we get comments on what a big boy he is often. The nutritionist at my office is quite knowledgable on breastfeeding and didn't see a problem, but had to put in his file that he was "at risk for being underweight". Apparently there is some kind of rule if the child goes below a certain percentile they have to say that. I also know that you AND your children have to have some kind of "risk factor" to continue qualifying for WIC, and sometimes they have to make something up. She didn't say anything like "Oh you MUST put him on solids now, he's six months old", she just told me he looked like he was doing perfectly fine on breastmilk alone, and also took into account the fact that his mother stands 5'0", 108lbs : Large people we are not.

[sparklefairy]

Originally Posted by wanderlost

yes, the bottle. I wish I would have known what I know now...:

(((((Shannon))))) I wish those who were supposed to be supporting you had been adequate.

[jandc_hammond]

Originally Posted by SashaBear

We just started WIC last week. They don't take into account any allergies or personal choices! We don't have any allergies but considering every food they give is a common allergy they should take it into consideration.

I informed the nutritionist at my last appointment that my baby has a sensitivity to milk protein (I can't drink cow's milk or eat more than a tiny amount of cheese). I asked if it would be possible for me to get soy milk, rather than cow's milk. The nutritionist's response? "Perhaps you should stop breastfeeding and start your baby on a soy-based formula." : For a program that claims to encourage breastfeeding, I don't think that they do a great job.

[wanderlost]

Originally Posted by sparklefairy

(((((Shannon))))) I wish those who were supposed to be supporting you had been adequate.

Thanks!
It is interesting that I thought I was fine and dandy with everthing until I began breastfeeding my dd - and that sort of opened the wound. I'm healing though.

[MrsRitchie]

I had a good experience with the WIC BF'ing counselor...but that is probably becuasae I had already decided to BF and knew that I would no matter what.
She called my house a few days after we came home from the hospital and were having trouble with latch due to the hardest rocks for boobs ever! I'd already visited the LC at the hospital three times by that point, but it was really nice of her to call.
WIC and Medicaid were great to me when I was pregnant, but they really have some issues re: eligibilty to work out. They only asked me once for proof of income. We still would have qualified (in school and broke!), but my friend who now has her 2nd child is on Medicaid and WIC. Her husband has a rocking job with construction...makes well over the Medicaid standards. At there last eligibily appt...they qualified becuase the weather had been bad and her hubby didn't work for one week, and the next week they were OOT for a funeral for 2 or 3 days. It pisses me off to no end that they can afford healthcare, but are using the system. Heck, I think his job probably even offers healthcare. He makes over $25 an hour and they live in the midwest, where living is cheap.