Inflation and COVID, a baby formula shortage and food insecurity: Why aren’t more eligible Americans using WIC?
More than 6 million Americans are enrolled in WIC, a mostly inflation-proof program that boosts at-risk and low-income people and families. Millions more are eligible, yet deterred by old technology and 'a lot of judgment, stigma, guilt, shame.'
Tiffany Cusaac-SmithAs the young mother of an infant who struggled to put on weight, Jasmine Jurado said doctors thought she was negligent.
She wasn't, but she needed help.
That's when Jurado, then 18, reached out to the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. More commonly known as WIC, the program provides at-risk low-income pregnant people, postpartum people, infants and children up to 5 with food, nutrition education, breastfeeding support and health care referrals.
A lactation specialist soon arrived at Jurado's home in California. The specialist gave her breastfeeding classes, monitored how Jurado held the baby girl as she nursed and noticed that the girl's difficulty gaining weight had nothing to do with the mother. The child had a tied tongue, which made it difficult for the infant to get the milk.