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Objective 3: Increase to 46 percent the proportion of infants who are exclusively breastfed at 6 months of age.

Reference: Healthy People 2030 Goal MICH–15: Increase the proportion of infants who are breastfed exclusively through age 6 months - target 42.4 % Reference: Healthy People 2030 Goal MICH–16: Increase the proportion of infants who are breastfed at 1 year - target: 54.1%

Activities: Within VDH/WIC • Provide electric breast pumps to eligible WIC participants not eligible for Medicaid pumps. • Train all WIC staff and invite community partners to the WIC Breastfeeding Curriculum training. • Coordinate training opportunities with Strong Families Vermont, Home Health Agencies, Parent- Child Centers, Children's Integrated Services, Home Visiting, Head Start, EFNEP, AAP VT Chapter and medical care providers. • Provide bi-monthly training for Peer Counselors and WIC Certifiers on breastfeeding and lactation management. Support eligible staff to achieve the IBCLC credential. • Maintain statewide peer counseling services. • Continue to support Peer Counseling programs to maintain trained peers. Provide guidance and support to peer counselor supervisors, most notably in the onboarding of new peers. Continue to help the local offices with their peer counselor recruitment. Assess the need for bi-lingual peer counselors in the immigrant and refugee communities. Add peers who speak the languages that are currently dominant in our communities when possible. English-speaking peers will be trained to use language lines to support families that speak languages other than English if bi-lingual/multi-lingual peers are not available. • WIC staff and peer counselors promote the Daily Drop app to pregnant and postpartum WIC participants and use the clinical report tool to inform clinic visits and assess for changes in breastfeeding knowledge, confidence • Invite all interested WIC staff to a Lactation Symposium, a day of lactation education and breastfeeding coalition planning for the upcoming year.

With Community at Large • Support and implement local office efforts identified in the Family and Child Health’s statewide breastfeeding strategic plan, including promotion of the 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, professional education for community partners using the WIC Breastfeeding Curriculum training, continued peer program support, and support for breastfeeding within workplaces and early care. • Invite community partners to attend the Lactation Symposium and include them in the networking and coalition planning session.

With Worksites • Continue to promote awareness of State and Federal laws and the breastfeeding provisions of the Affordable Care Act and PUMP Act. • “Vermont Worksites Support the Lactating Employees” was revised to include the provisions of the PUMP Act which expanded existing employer obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. • Provide support and updated resources to local office staff as they reconnect with existing Breastfeeding Friendly Employers to ensure they are continuing to support their staff and adhere to the accommodations they submitted at the time of their original application.