Khloe Utley didn’t have a lot of support during her pregnancy.
She signed up for WIC, a supplemental nutrition program for pregnant women, infants and young children.
That’s when she met Brittany Frishman, a breastfeeding expert and coordinator of the Maternal Child Home visitor program for the Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Departments.
Utley didn’t know much about breastfeeding; Frishman worked with her after baby Jovie Bigelow was born about 10 months ago.
“The beginning is definitely the toughest,” Utley said. “I was always told it might hurt in the beginning. I’ve learned it’s not supposed to hurt and there are ways to make it easier.”
The experience had such an impact, Utley subsequently applied for a job at the health department. Now, she works with mothers as a home visitor and breastfeeding peer counselor in Allen and Anderson counties. Holly Fritter serves the same role in Bourbon and Woodson Counties.
“There was so much I wish I had known. I want to be that person for other moms,” Utley said.
Frishman and Utley are working to bring several new programs to area health departments to help moms and their children. That includes “safe sleep” education and grants to secure cribs. Utley is reaching out to area schools to help teen moms with babysitter workshops, CPR classes and other parent education programs. Frishman is tapping into her skills as a photographer to offer breastfeeding photo shoots. The two of them are working on “Mommy and Me” classes and community baby showers.
Meanwhile, Frishman and health department officials earned the Gold Level “Breastfeeding Employees Support Award” from the Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition and its Business Case for Breastfeeding program.
The goal is to normalize breastfeeding, especially in the workplace, as a healthy and natural way to feed a baby. Businesses that implement programs to support breastfeeding mothers could find it easier to recruit and retain employees, Frishman said.
“We want moms to have more spaces where they can feel safe to breastfeed,” Frishman said.
Frishman is reaching out to area businesses to help Allen County earn the reputation of being a breastfeeding-friendly community.
Some ways businesses can support new mothers is to offer policies that support breastfeeding, education videos, a lactation room for pumping (not a bathroom), and a refrigerator or freezer to store breast milk. Businesses also can provide paid maternity leave or flex time, on-site child care or a program that allows mothers to bring their babies to work.
Utley, for example, brings Jovie to work with her.
“Take care of your employees and they’ll take care of you,” Becky Johnson, executive director for SEKMCHD, said.
