- Details
- Category: Current Issue
BOSTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is recognizing 103 WIC clinics, among 10,000 nationally, with WIC Breastfeeding Awards of Excellence for work being done to help moms and babies successfully breastfeed.
Day Kimball Hospital WIC Program is one of three in Connecticut being recognized. The Premiere award recognizes 32 percent of moms fully or partially breastfeeding
The other two are: Optimus Health Care WIC Program in Bridgeport, Gold: and Meriden WIC, Gold.
“The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) is thrilled to have three Connecticut local WIC agencies selected for the 2024 WIC Breastfeeding Awards of Excellence, including Day Kimball Hospital, which was selected for the Premiere Award, the first in Connecticut,” said DPH Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD. “Being selected is an honor and demonstrates the exemplary support available to WIC participants to ensure they meet their breastfeeding goals.”
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children known as WIC is one of the nation’s 16 federal nutrition programs. WIC aims to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to health care and social services.
WIC Breastfeeding Awards of Excellence are given at three levels of performance that build on one another: Gold, Premiere, and Elite. In Connecticut, the awardee clinics are using peer counselors, a mom-to-mom mentorship, to provide prenatal and postpartum education and family support to clients, and in Putnam, the hospital is collaborating with organizations such as Pacify to connect WIC clients to a network of doulas, lactation consultants and registered nurses in-person and virtually.
“These awards highlight the importance of breastfeeding as the best source of nutrition for a baby’s first year of life,” said USDA Food and Nutrition Service Regional Administrator Lizbeth Silbermann. “With WIC serving about 40% of babies born in the country, local WIC program staff, who provide breastfeeding education and support to mothers, are key to helping moms that want to breastfeed do so successfully.”
.