News Flash

NORFOLK, VA –  The Norfolk Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) will be hosting a Breastfeeding Week Celebration in conjunction with National Breastfeeding Awareness Month on Friday, August 24, 2018 from 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM at the Workforce Development Center, 201 East Little Creek Road Norfolk, VA 23505. This event is open to all pregnant women and new moms and is to increase awareness for community mothers on the breastfeeding support services available to them throughout the community.

Information will be available about pregnancy, post-partum and breastfeeding support services throughout the community, Virginia breastfeeding laws, breastfeeding-friendly businesses, employers and daycares and what mothers need to know about successfully breastfeeding while working outside of the home. Free samples and raffles will be offered. Children are welcome to attend; crafts and active play activities will be available.  The WIC breastfeeding team is comprised of Ricaya McCray, Breastfeeding Coordinator and Breastfeeding Peer Counselors, Jamie McGee and Kim Griffin-Brown. The WIC team said, “We want to help mothers reach their individual breastfeeding goals by empowering them with information and support.” 

According to the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the most highly effective preventive measures a mother can take to protect the health of her infant is to breastfeed. However, in the United States, although most mothers hope to breastfeed, and 81 percent of babies start out being breastfed, only 22 percent are exclusively breastfed six months later.

For more information about this event, call 757-451-7501. For more information about the Norfolk Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program and services, visit us on the web at http://www.norfolk.gov/index.aspx?NID=2941. You can now follow Norfolk WIC on Facebook www.facebook.com/norfolk.wic and Twitter www.twitter.com/NorfolkWIC .