[music] - here at the lactationfoundation, we are a community breastfeeding resource formothers and also health-care professionals. one of the ways that weare able to help moms with breastfeeding even if they'renot in our local area is through the use of teleconsults andtheir local wic clinics. we prefer to see mothers inperson for lactation care, but with houston being so big,many times the moms who need
the most help are unable toaccess that help in their own neighborhoods. one of our best collaborationswas with the university of texas medical school at houston,and so we are able to offer our medical residents and thedepartment of pediatrics, family practice, and ob/gynthe opportunity to advance their clinical skills inproviding lactation care. - about 78 to 79% of moms intexas initiate breastfeeding. however, they are notcontinuing to meet their
breastfeeding goals. a lot of moms drop off evenin the first two weeks. - after discharge, of course,some moms have difficulties with breastfeeding, ormaybe they just have a lot of concerns andneed that reinforcement, so we refer them to thelactation foundation, as well as there are someprivate lc's in the community that can also see them. - after we receive a referralfrom the hospital,
one of our consultants willcall mom and offer her an appointment to come in forone-on-one consultation. - whatever the issuewith breastfeeding, we have ideas and we havestrategies here, because most likely ifyou're going through it, someone else hadbeen through it. we hear a lot at the wicoffice that moms stop breastfeeding because theyhave to go back to work. there are a lot of laws thathelp support moms to go back
to work and be able tobreastfeed at the same time. - women use the lactationfoundation as a resource initially when the baby's inthat first couple of weeks. they come and get help, andthen we see them call us again when they're aboutfive or six weeks, ready to go back to work,and then we see them at different stages of development. - it's not enough to have a listof resources for moms. we also had staff from thelactation care center
and the community baby cafã©come and talk to our staff. this is really helpful to havepeople who are living it every day, and through that,helped us establish our peer counselor program as well. - the lactation care center forthe city of dallas wic program is here to promotebreastfeeding, but more than anything,it's here to help moms feel nurtured and empowered. i've gone into hospitals andsaid, hey, you're working on
the 10 steps or ultimatelybaby-friendly designation, you need to have peer counselorsin your hospital. mothers feel comfortable withthe peer-to-peer support, and many of them have 10 to 20or more years' experience, so these peer counselorscan really effectively help moms with latching theirbaby, providing education, and also telling themabout the wic program. it's such a win-win because theyget that continuity of care, especially if the peer counselorsaw them in the hospital,
and then they come backto their wic clinic or the lactation care center,they're getting that continuity all the way throughfrom that peer counselor support. - before i moved to be a peercounselor at the hospital, i was a peer counselor atthe wic office, and south dallas is majorityafrican-american women, and when i attended theiroffice, it was 20% to 30% breastfeeding, and when i wentover there, i got our rates
up to 100%, so we were 100% likethree or four months, but every mom that came through,just by being educated, wanted to breastfeed,at least try to breastfeed. - christine: about 3/4 of ourmoms initiate breastfeeding, but then they stop anddon't always meet their we have to make sure thatmom gets the support when she goes home. if they do the nine steps andwe don't have the tenth step, we don't have that continuity,and that's where we want to
make sure we're increasingduration and exclusivity. - i'm very grateful for ourcommunity partners. we all work together to helpmoms cross the finish line. - alisa: what we are doingright now every day is changing the future. it's not just whathappens today. it's what happens insix months and it's what happens in a year, and then asthese babies grow up who were breast fed, that becomes thenorm, and that's how we change
the culture and that's howwe change the future for our children.
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