Nevada County WIC Celebrates National Breastfeeding Month!
August is National Breastfeeding Month, and the week of August 1 is World Breastfeeding Week!
This year’s national theme of “Together We Do Great Things” is a celebration of the power of our collective efforts. Thriving families and communities cannot be achieved by any one person or by just one organization. This is true here in Nevada County, where Nevada County WIC and the Breastfeeding Coalition of Nevada County (BCNC) have accomplished a lot on behalf of our county’s families.
Recent data from the state has Nevada County with the highest hospital breastfeeding initiation rates among all counties for 2019. The WIC program’s fully breastfeeding rates are in the top 3 for California at the three-, six- and 11-month milestones. WIC offers mothers and babies lots of early breastfeeding support. To see if you qualify, go to www.myfamily.wic.ca.gov or call 530-265-1454.
This year BCNC launched a new website, obtained a Soroptimist grant, and sponsored a successful “Share the Love” breastmilk donation drive in February, with more than 5,151 ounces collected for the San Jose Mothers Milk Bank. This timely breast milk donation helped feed the most vulnerable infants of Nevada County and Northern California, a critical donation given the recent formula crisis that greatly impacted those in need of premature and therapeutic formulas. The BCNC has also grown this year with lots of new members and much to celebrate! Members represent many individuals and organizations, including Nevada County Public Health, the Maternal Child and Adolescent Health program, WIC, Healthy Babies, The Nest, and many more.
Finally, BCNC will be sponsoring the Rock and Relax Lounge at the 2022 Nevada County Fair in Ponderosa Hall, which gives mothers a cool place to feed, pump, or change their babies. Contact BCNC on their website Home | Breastfeeding Coalition of Nevada County | California (nevadacountybfc.wixsite.com) or by email at nevadacountybfc@gmail.com.
