Breastfeeding promotion and support is a central tenet of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The Loving Support Peer Counseling Program is an initiative designed to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates for WIC participants, as well as to increase community support for WIC participants who breastfeed.
This study provides a comprehensive and systematic picture of the implementation of the Loving Support Peer Counseling Program. Phase I, the Implementation Study, describes the process of the Loving Support Peer Counseling Program implementation in those States that accepted breastfeeding peer counseling grants.
Phase II, the Impact Study, will address the research question of what intensity of peer counseling is necessary to increase duration of breastfeeding once the program has met the standards of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) model.