The California WIC community is headed to our 20th Annual Conference next week. Aside from substantive trainings, important cross-program networking and inspiring fun, the CWA Annual Meeting has another very important purpose: creating and strengthening critical WIC partnerships.

WIC could not effectively function without the complex network of formal and informal partnerships upon which it is built. Federal, state and local WIC administrators partner with each other to fund, manage and provide critical nutrition services to our most important customers (and partners!): WIC families. Thousands of grocers, food manufacturers, bankers, and farmers partner with WIC to provide healthy food benefits. Local WIC agencies partner with hospitals, medical providers, public health, and community organizations to protect and improve participants’ health.

As part of our long and fruitful collaboration with the California WIC Division, CWA has created a conference where WIC’s amazing and diverse group of partners gather. Once a year, we get to know each other better, share WIC innovations and challenges, and peek into the future of our dynamic and entrepreneurial program.

This year, we challenge each of you to find a NEW partner among the lively mix here at the Conference – or in your own back yard. How will you lead and collaborate with your partners to improve WIC services and, by doing that, the nation’s health?

Enjoy this year’s opportunities to expand your network for a Platinum WIC!

Momentum is rapidly building in the grassroots movement to create communities that fully support WIC mothers’ decisions to breastfeed their babies. In late February, we released our latest Hospital Breastfeeding report, an advocacy tool that local advocates have been using very successfully for the past five years. This year’s report again demonstrates that, while many California hospitals have made impressive reforms in their infant feeding policies, a substantial group of institutions – mostly in Southern California -- still has a long way to go in implementing policies and practices that truly support breastfeeding as part of quality maternity care.

The updated Perinatal Core Measures from The Joint Commission underscore the importance of supporting exclusive breastfeeding in the hospital. Hospital Breastfeeding Consortiums which break down WIC and provider “silos” are forming across the state. Years of collaborative work in dozens of communities is getting great results: look how fast the number of Baby-Friendly hospitals in California is growing:

Improving hospital breastfeeding policies is not the only area where we are seeing dramatic progress. Thanks to federal reforms and a Call to Action from the Surgeon General, paid family leave, workplace lactation accommodation, and new healthcare funding for breastfeeding counseling and pumps could be  viable options for moms who want to provide optimal feeding for their infants in the first year. WIC can play an important role in making sure these options become a reality for WIC moms.

We’re definitely on a roll.  Catch the wave as we continue working towards our vision: breastfeeding is the norm in all California communities!

--Laurie True