In the year 2022, families who depended on the WIC program faced an unprecedented challenge due to national infant formula shortages caused by a product recall initiated by Abbott Nutrition, one of the largest formula manufacturers in the United States. The production issues faced by Abbott were extensive and long-lasting, which resulted in the enactment of state contract flexibilities, USDA waivers of select federal regulations, and newly enacted laws to reduce inequities for WIC participants, as all shoppers struggled to find infant formula on the retail shelves. As a result of these challenges, the Onslow WIC Program noted a significant shift in the proportion of breastfed infants, with 47.4% of infants enrolled in WIC breastfeeding as of February 2024, which is an all-time program high.

WIC provides individualized counseling, prenatal education, and access to breast pumps to encourage and sustain a mother’s choice to breastfeed. Structural and societal barriers, such as a rapid return to work after delivery, lack of workplace support for breastfeeding, family and social pressures, entrenched racial disparities, and targeted marketing by the infant formula industry, create real and perceived barriers for low-income mothers as they consider breastfeeding.

WIC offers professional and peer support to overcome significant barriers that affect them. This support aims to bring about individual outcomes and structural changes in communities. In addition to lactation support, WIC also addresses other barriers for participating families by providing professional and peer counseling. Studies have shown that this approach has been effective in increasing breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity.