Experts say breast-feeding is best for babies. Personal experience has proved that to be true for several Emporia mothers who attend a breast feeding support group at the Flint Hills Community Health Center/Lyon County Health Department through the WIC program.
World Breast-feeding Week is Aug. 1-7 and in light of that week, Janine Messersmith, WIC coordinator at the health center, and Bevin Neeley, breast-feeding peer counselor at the health center, are shedding light on the subject.
The theme for this year’s event is “Talk to Me! Breast-feeding a 3D Experience.”
Messersmith said under health care reform, employers are required to allow nursing women breaks to express breast milk and a place to do so that isn’t a bathroom. Employers are not required to pay an employee for this time unless other employees are compensated for their breaks throughout the day, Messersmith said.
In conjunction with that, the State of Kansas received a grant through the Health Resource and Service Administration to train people in the business case for breast-feeding.
There are several benefits to businesses if mothers nurse their children and the practice is fostered at work including less absenteeism because the child is sick less and retention of employees, as well as lower health care and insurance costs also due to the child being sick less.
Neeley said they have been working with local businesses, including Tyson, SOS and Flint Hills Technical College to help foster an environment that encourages and supports nursing mothers. Tyson already has a lactation program, Neeley said, and a pump has been provided for that program.
SOS has a room set up and Flint Hills Technical College plans on providing a space for both employees and students.
The health center secured a $6,000-grant through the United Methodist Health Foundation to provide breast pumps, cleaning supplies for the pumps, storage bags for the milk and nursing bras. Nursing mothers also will have access to Messersmith as a peer counselor and lactation consultant.
As a part of World Breast-feeding Week, Kansas had a contest where each center was encouraged to submit a photo and a story of a local family who is breast-feeding their baby. The health center is a winning center and the winning family will be featured on a billboard somewhere in Kansas promoting breast-feeding.
The breast-feeding support group at the health center meets every Wednesday. Several area women are regular attendees. The group was formed to allow mothers a place to breast-feed, talk, support one another and ask questions.
Patricia Powell, a group member, had a daughter, MaKayla, who is 2 months old. She’s been breast-feeding MaKayla since birth.
“I had doubts about it because I didn’t think it’d go well,” Powell said. “But since I’ve been coming here it’s been going well.”
Latricia Bradley also had a baby, Brandon, two months ago. She said the group also has helped her with support and keeping up with breast-feeding.
Ashley Harris has a 22-month-old baby, Legend. She is no longer breast-feeding but continues to come to the group. She said the support helped her along the way. She offered some tips for nursing mothers.
“Keep going,” she said. “Don’t stop because it hurts. It’s the best thing your children could ever have. A lot of people give up because they don’t have support.”
Harris said Legend hardly ever got sick when she was breast-feeding.
“He got sick one time,” she said.
Harris said her finance, Hutchinson, was breast-fed and comes from four generations of breast-fed babies. He was a huge support for her, she said.
Kellie Stone breast-fed all her children. She has four children, Adelinah Grace, 9 months, DaisieMay Lorraine, 8, Ezekiel James, 5, and Zephaniah John, 3. This is the longest she’s ever breast-fed, Stone said. She said that was mostly in part due to the group.
“It gives you other women to talk to,” she said. “If I was able to go back in time and do things differently, I would have lasted longer. I just wasn’t educated.”
And that education was key, Stone said.
“I’ve learned a lot of information in the group,” she said. “I’ve passed that (information) on to my sister.”