If you think that’s bad, I’ve had several FAAPs tell me various outright false information regarding formula and breastfeeding.

One, an allergist, said he believed every newborn’s first meal should be a formula containing different allergy food proteins to “sensitize” their immune systems. Needless to say, I didn’t go back even for my own care.

One, a partner at a children’s hospital general pediatriac practice, told me that breastmilk was worthless after 4 months because that is when the child should be started on solids and formula was clearly a better nutritional choice. He about wet himself having fits telling me why tandem nursing and breastfeeding while pregnant were dangerous to me and my children and dismissed as irrelevant questions I asked that were pretty much straight out of Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk, the AAP’s policy statement on breastfeeding.

But speaking of vaccines… Another partner at the same children’s hospital practice ignored my concerns about green frothy poop and diaper rash to browbeat me into vaccination for my 2 month old, only to have her have a serious adverse event once we got home that was never documented in her chart.

As to WIC supporting breastfeeding, there is a wide variation in what is offered from clinic to clinic, let alone state to state. And even the clinics with the best programs will fail to increase breastfeeding initiation and sustaining rates if people don’t bother to show up. I worked as a breastfeeding peer counselor for WIC. Part of my job was sitting in the waiting areas, nursing my baby, and talking to other mothers about breastfeeding in an effort to normalize breastfeeding since many of our moms had never or seldom seen anyone breastfeed in person. I also had an approximately 500 piece mailing list that included the prenatal and breastfeeding mothers in my district where I would advertise monthly classes focusing on a specific breastfeeding topic at each clinic, services available, and where to call for breastfeeding questions or support. I was happy if I had 2 people show up at each class because they were not required in order for the moms to get their vouchers even though we had give-aways at every class and older children were welcome. I did home visits, and phone calls, and regular breastfeeding education, pump loans, and community outreach to the medicaid HMO prenatal program coordinators. I only had a maximum of 25 hours a week, but it was enough work for three people working full time. And because of a state hiring freeze (that also counts toward grant funded positions like mine was) I don’t know that there has been anyone hired to replace my replacement after she left.

In the first place, I didn’t want to cost the government money if I could afford the foods myself (I feel the income level is very high in our area — almost every mother I know qualifies).

In the second place, I thought it was wasteful. The administrator actually told me to make bean bag toys with the extra dried beans I could get! They gave vouchers for WAY more juice, milk, cheese and cereal than was healthy for the size of our family. I don’t know a single family on WIC in my town that doesn’t give extra foods to friends and relatives because they get so much extra.

In the third place, I found that they were very anti-breastfeeding. You get free formula automatically and the nods towards breastfeeding were a joke. They acted surprised I was nursing and I never saw anything about support in any form. It makes me furious that my tax dollars are paying to get poor women to give up breastfeeding. The attitude is, “Why breastfeed? WIC will give you formula to use for free.”

In the fourth place, I found their dietary advice to be horrible. When I mentioned that I tried not to just give my young daughter apple juice all the time in favor of more nutritious juices like orange juice, the worker said “One juice is as good as any other kind, and apple juice is just as nutritious as eating apples.” My child would have been drinking up to 6 cups of apple juice a day to keep up with their program, which I know is ridiculous and would just lead to cavities and weight problems, not to mention masses of sugar. They also gave me false information about eggs and allergies (saying it was fine to give an infant eggs) and told me I was endangering my health by being a vegetarian.

In the fifth place, they were just plain rude. A worker ridiculed my toddler for crying when she stuck her for a lead test, saying, “Oh quit crying, it’s just a prick!”. Another one outright laughed when we told her we planned to homeschool our children (the oldest is now entering 7th grade at home and well past high school level in many subjects, thank you). Another one made fun of the way we spelled our son’s name (and no, it’s not a crazy spelling, though it would be rude even then).

It makes me sick to think of how many billions we spend on this program. I’m glad some states are doing a better job from the sounds of it.

As for the “extra food,” when I was on it I got a can of tuna and a bag of carrots each week instead of all the formula. It wasn’t exactly a huge incentive.

Oh, and here, you just get vouchers. You can use them on any brand that’s approved (but no organic foods). So most mothers I know buy the most expensive of everything, costing the government that much more money.

It’s a cash cow for the formula industry, Gerber and Juicy Juice, funded by the tax payers. I am so not a fan!

In our current city, I have been impressed by the commitment of the employees to nursing. I have been seen immediately for supply issues, received follow-up appointments and information in the mail pertaining to nursing and my food allergies. They provided both a manual and an electric pump. In the office, they also offer several classes on breastfeeding, and readily provide the info for the LLL meetings in town. In addition to extra food vouchers, vouchers for the farmers market and friendly prompt service.

Honestly, the experience in this city made me sad for the ladies who didn’t qualify.