Are you a breastfeeding mother or someone pregnant who plans to breastfeed and you need support?

If so, there’s a program through Polk County Health and Human Services Agency that is ready to help.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (“WIC”) provides supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to health care and community resources to participants.

Polk County Health and Human Services Agency also offers a Breastfeeding Support Group. For more information on this, click here.

“Children and mothers need access to nutritious foods that assist with optimal physical growth, proper brain development, and many other long-term benefits. Our WIC personnel are family centered and seek out opportunities to make those connections happen,” said Brittany Matson, MHS, LD, RD, Polk County Health and Human Services Agency WIC Director.

To be eligible a person must:

• Be a pregnant woman; a breastfeeding woman who has had a baby in the last 12 months; a woman who has had a baby in the last six months; an infant; or a child up to the fifth birthday;
• Reside in North Carolina;
• Meet income eligibility requirements: The gross annual household income cannot exceed 185% of the Federal poverty income guidelines; All Medicaid, Food and Nutrition Services (food stamps) and Work First recipients meet the WIC income eligibility criteria; and
• Have an identified nutritional risk as determined by a health professional.

The WIC Program is available at the Polk County Health Department office, which is located at 161 Walker Street in Columbus. To apply for the WIC Program, please make an appointment by calling 828-894-8271. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

For more information on the WIC Program, check out this site.