WIC - Women, Infants & Children

November - December 2024

Holiday Food Safety

Pregnant women, infants, and children younger than five years are at greater risk of foodborne illness which is why safe food handling is especially important for these groups. Follow these 4 rules of food safety when preparing your holiday meals: CLEAN, SEPARATE, COOK and CHILL

• Clean your hands for 20 seconds with warm soapy water. Always serve food on clean plates.
• Separate raw and cooked foods so you don't cross contaminate.
• Cook using a food thermometer to make sure food reaches a safe minimum internal temperature.
  • 145°F - raw beef, pork, fish, lamb and veal steaks, chops, and roasts.
  • 160°F - raw ground beef, pork, lamb and veal.
  • 165°F - raw chicken, turkey, other poultry, casseroles, and leftovers.
• Chill leftovers within two hours of cooking. Keep track of how long items have been sitting out and discard
  anything that has been out longer than two hours.

Holiday Leftovers: Store leftover food in small, shallow containers in the refrigerator. Shallow containers help cool leftovers more quickly than storing them in large containers. Freeze or consume leftovers within four days. Use frozen leftovers within 6 months. Make sure the internal temperature of reheated leftovers reaches 165°F

Breastfeeding Corner:

Making Milk Expression Work

Expressing milk is an important tool in your breastfeeding journey. Ask WIC breastfeeding staff for tips to help you with pumping & hand expression. WIC staff may also suggest pumping to help address common issues, including relieving or preventing engorgement & building your milk supply.

Relieving or Preventing Engorgement: Emptying milk from your breasts regularly helps keep your breasts from becoming engorged. If they do get engorged, pumping or expressing milk can help by removing some of your breast milk.

How you can use pumping to help:

• Hand express or pump a little milk to soften the breast, areola, & nipple before breastfeeding. This may make it easier for baby to latch.
• If your baby is not nursing well, express your milk often to maintain milk supply & prevent engorgement.
• If your breasts are uncomfortably full at the end of a feeding or between feedings, express your milk until it's more comfortable. This will help keep your breasts from becoming too full.

Increasing Milk Supply:

Each time you breastfeed or pump, you're telling your body to make more milk. If you’re struggling with low milk supply, pumping may help you make more milk. Try pumping between feedings. Aim to remove more milk from your breasts and/or increase the number of times you empty your breasts.

Supplying Milk When You're Away From Baby:

Being away from your baby—whether you're returning to work or school, need to run errands, or want a night out with friends—requires planning. Pumping or expressing milk is a great way to make sure your baby gets the benefits of breast milk while you are apart.

• Pump or express breast milk while your baby is napping or when you have help from others to watch your baby. Or try to pump for a few minutes after every feeding. You can store your milk for later.
• If you're back at work or school, try to pump or express milk as often as you would feed your baby. Talk to your employer about scheduling breaks to pump.
• An electric breast pump may be the best way to remove milk quickly when you are away from your baby for several hours.

Learn more about milk expression from the USDA

Have breastfeeding questions? Call the WIC office at 518-432-4033 or peer counselor Jackie at 518-649-3885

WIC Reminders:

Don't forget to use your benefits! Utilizing your WIC benefits helps our program receive appropriate funding to continue to serve our community.

Lactation Destination Club: Each month, our peer counselor holds a breastfeeding support group for pregnant and postpartum families to learn about different breastfeeding topics. Please call the office if you're interested in attending. More information is listed above.

Farmers' market coupons expire on November 30. If you need  a list of approved farmers' markets, please contact the office.