Peer Counseling: Making a Difference for WIC Families

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Breastfeeding A WIC Priority

• Improves health outcomes for infants
• Fewer infections and disease
• Improved IQ
• Lower rates of obesity and diabetes
• Improves health outcomes for mothers
• Faster recovery from pregnancy
• Lower risk of breast cancer
• Reduces health care costs

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WIC Breastfeeding Rates
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Peer CounselingMakes A Difference!

• Improves initiation and duration rates among
  women in
• Disadvantaged populations
• Varied cultural groups
• Urban and rural settings
• Peer counseling has been used effectively in
  many WIC State and local agencies across the U.S.

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Who Are Peer Counselors?

• Experienced breastfeeding mothers
• Ideally a current or previous WIC client
• Ideally from the same population group as the
  that served by WIC
• Enthusiastic about breastfeeding, and helping
  other mothers enjoy a positive experience
• Provide basic breastfeeding information and
  support to WIC mothers

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The Power OfMother-To-Mother Connections
Thats what its all aboutmoms helping moms.
WIC Peer Counselor
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How Peer Counselors Help

• Serve as a model for breastfeeding
• Establish a connection with the family
• Help mothers prevent and manage common concerns
  with breastfeeding
• Provide ongoing encouragement to help mother meet
  her breastfeeding goals
• Link to breastfeeding help beyond the usual
  8-to-5 services
• Fill the gap in services immediately after
  hospital discharge for seamless continuity of
  care

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WIC Healthcare Team

• As part of the WIC healthcare team, peer
  counselors
• Free up staff time by taking time to help mothers
  explore and address barriers and concerns
• Make referrals to WIC staff if mother has
  questions or concerns outside her scope
• Promote WIC with participants and family members,
  encouraging participation
• Provide information for WIC team that affect
  health and nutritional status of client and her
  children

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USDAs Vision ForPeer Counseling

• Institutionalize peer counseling as a core
  service in WIC
• Provide leadership and resources to equip State
  and local WIC agencies with implementing peer
  counseling programs
• Two training curricula for WIC agencies
• Using Loving Support to Manage Peer Counseling
  Programs
• Loving Support Through Peer Counseling

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Basic Job ResponsibilitiesFor Peer Counselors

• Accept referrals of pregnant and breastfeeding
  WIC clients for follow-up
• Contact women at critical intervals
• Monthly during pregnancy
• Frequently during early days of breastfeeding
• Monthly as long as baby is breastfeeding
• Be available to mothers beyond usual WIC clinic
  hours
• Document all contacts with mothers
• Make referrals of women with concerns

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Job Settings

• Telephone calls from home and the clinic
• Clinic visits
• Home visits
• Hospital visits

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Peer CounselorsAre Well Trained!

• Attend formal series of breastfeeding classes
• Personal study
• Observe/shadow a lactation professional (such as
  an IBCLC or senior peer counselor)
• Observe WIC nutritionist
• Ongoing training

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Compensation

• Paid hourly for all contacts made with WIC
  participants, including documentation
• Will complete weekly activity reports and submit
  to supervisor

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Supervision

• Peer counselors will
• Be supervised by local agency coordinator
• Receive weekly contacts from supervisor
• Attend monthly staff meetings
• Complete contact logs
• Have work spot checked

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A Little UnderstandingGoes A Long Way!

• This may be the peer counselors first job
• Mentor her by modeling professionalism
• As a WIC participant herself, her life has
  similar stresses to other WIC clients
• Loneliness and stress of listening to other
  peoples problems can lead to burnout
• Bringing her nursing baby to the clinic helps
  model breastfeeding for other WIC mothers
• Although she may come and go to the clinic, she
  is on call to handle emergency breastfeeding
  situations

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How You Can SupportPeer Counselors

• Tell her shes a valued member of the WIC team!
• Assist in recruiting qualified peer counselors
• Provide referrals of pregnant and breastfeeding
  WIC clients
• Include peer counselors in WIC clinic meetings
  and activities
• Reinforce her education to WIC mothers with
  consistent, accurate breastfeeding information

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Create A Breastfeeding-FriendlyEnvironment In
The WIC Clinic

• Stay up to date with your own breastfeeding
  knowledge
• Ensure the WIC clinic provides positive messages
  of Loving Support for breastfeeding
• Actively promote the peer counseling program with
  WIC participants

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One of the most important things we can do is to
nurture and support our peer counselors. We find
that the more we do to encourage and support
them, the better they are at working with WIC
moms. WIC Staff Member
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Peer Counseling Making ADifference For WIC
Families!