T-L Photos/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Rikki Boston, left, with grandson with five-month-old Oaklynn Boston of Beallsville speaks to Holly Weatherson, director of Early Intervention with BHN Alliance during the second Mama-Palooza event to allow mothers of young children to network and gain resources. The event was held Wednesday in the Bellaire District Library.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Board of Commissioners recognized Breastfeeding Awareness Month and National Breastfeeding Week, which began Monday. Representatives of the Belmont County Women, Infants and Children program updated the commissioners about the increase in breastfeeding among new mothers and the attendant health benefits.

WIC Director Lori McCoy, and Kristin Parker, a breastfeeding peer helper, said

Parker said all services that had been limited during the COVID-19 pandemic have now been fully restored.

“We are back to doing infant feeding classes and trying to get more information out for breastfeeding and we’ve been doing well,” she said, adding social media has helped with outreach efforts. “We are trying to get in touch with the hospitals now that things are not so crazy after the pandemic.”

Parker added that the hospitals’ lactation specialists are excellent sources of advice and resources. She said the first week of breastfeeding is often the most difficult, as babies and new mothers both adjust, but early breastfeeding is also the most important time. McCoy said WIC encourages and prefers breastfeeding among clients, but will provide assistance with other formula options.

Another valuable resource is the Appalachian Breastfeeding Network to provide answers to problems. They said the program was initially funded by the state WIC through a grant, but the program has proven successful and has since been fully funded and permanent. The hotline is 888-588-3423.

“We’ve had it for a couple of years now,” Parker said. “It’s an Ohio statewide 24/7 breastfeeding hotline. … We always tell our moms if you can’t get us at WIC, if you can’t get the hospital – because there are certain hours you can reach those, and we all know things happen at 2-4 a.m.”

She said there are new texting options so as not to disturb the baby with talk.

McCoy and Parker said the numbers of breastfeeding women have remained about the same, in the mid-40s – but this only takes into account children younger than one year old, and babies may be breastfed beyond that. McCoy said this represents about 30 percent of mothers with infants younger than one year old. They said breastfeeding can still be awkward in some situations due to the judgement of surrounding people and lack of provisions, but the breastfeeding has also become more accepted among younger mothers. McCoy speculated this owes in part to a culture of openness and attention.

They said the pandemic as well as a recent formula shortage may have also encouraged for breastfeeding, since more young mothers had the relative convenience of working from home.

“There were some people working from home, some just taking longer leave after birth or maybe not returning to work, and it just seemed to be not a lot of places to go, so they were in their houses a lot more and it just seemed like the numbers were a little bit higher,” Parker said. “We still have pretty good numbers now.”

Parker added the state has also recently ended the expansion of waivers.

“With COVID, they had some waivers through WIC,” Parker said. “With things like milk for the other, older children, just things that were getting more difficult to find, they kind of just opened the variety to a bigger area of things that were allowed.”

They also discussed many options including relying solely on breast milk or a mixture of formula. Parker said mothers may also donate excess breast milk for use by mothers who are unable to breastfeed due to health or other reasons. She said breast milk can last for a year if frozen.

Among the planned events was the second yearly “Mama-Palooza” held Wednesday at the Bellaire library. Parker said the event features 19 informational tables related to new mothers and infants. They noted the importance of networking and communication among mothers, and the need for breast milk for babies born premature.