Erie County Health Department earns award from Ohio Department Award for breastfeeding efforts

What is it: The value the Erie County Health Department assigns to breastfeeding certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Last year, the United States Department of Agriculture presented ECDH with its Gold Award for Breastfeeding Promotion. More recently, according to a news release from the local government entity, the Ohio Department of Health – in collaboration with the Ohio Breastfeeding Alliance – bestowed upon it the Gold Award for Breastfeeding Workplace for 2024.

Why is it important: The Erie Huron County Women, Infants, and Children program paved the way for this by creating an agency-wide lactation policy, the release states, part of which brought extended break times for nursing mothers. The WIC program also helped lead to the creation of a lactation room that’s kept stocked with a supply of breastfeeding pumps for staff members’ use.

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

“We are incredibly honored to receive this recognition from the Ohio Department of Health,” adds Andrea Caudill, public health nursing and WIC director, in the release. “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.” 

Services offered: Among the services offered by the Erie-Huron County WIC Program to support breastfeeding mothers:

– Breastfeeding counseling and education 

– Breast pump distribution 

– Lactation support groups 

How to get involved: Learn more about the Maternal & Child Health programs ECHD offers.