Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace

Erie County Health Department Named Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace

[Sandusky, OH] – November 5, 2024 – The Erie County Health Department has been awarded the Gold Award for Breastfeeding Workplace for 2024. The award is given by the Ohio Department of Health in collaboration with the Ohio Breastfeeding Alliance and recognizes the agency’s unwavering commitment to supporting breastfeeding in the workplace.

The Erie-Huron County WIC program led the way for this award by creating an agency-wide lactation policy; part of the policy extended break times for nursing mothers. The WIC program also worked with agency leadership to create a lactation room and keeps ready a supply of breastfeeding pumps for staff members in the space.

“This award highlights our agency’s commitment to promoting healthy choices and supporting families,” said Peter T. Schade, Erie County Health Commissioner. “We are proud of our WIC program’s dedication to improving the health and well-being of our community – especially working mothers.”

The WIC program is passionate about breastfeeding, both in the workplace and in the home. In 2023, Erie-Huron County WIC was awarded the USDA’s Gold Award for Breastfeeding Promotion. The program was one of only three WIC programs in Ohio and 17 in the entire Midwest region to receive this recognition, highlighting the program’s position as a leader in breastfeeding support.

“We are incredibly honored to receive this recognition from the Ohio Department of Health,” said Andrea Caudill, Public Health Nursing and WIC Director. “Our staff is committed to creating a supportive environment in the workplace and at home for breastfeeding mothers. We want to ensure moms have the resources they need to succeed.”

The Erie-Huron County WIC Program offers a variety of services to support breastfeeding mothers, including:

• Breastfeeding counseling and education
• Breast pump distribution
• Lactation support groups
  
  The Erie-Huron County WIC Program is a federally funded program that provides nutritious foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk. For more information about Erie-Huron County WIC or the Erie County Health Department, please visit www.eriecohealthohio.com.