Pacify in West Virginia WIC, A Year in Review

Full Description: Successful breastfeeding is a contributor to healthier infants and mothers. Due to the health benefits of breastfeeding, our goal at WIC is to promote breastfeeding and provide support during breastfeeding for our new mothers. We do this through several avenues, notably through breastfeeding support by using breastfeeding peer counseling. WIC identified the need for expanded breastfeeding support for mothers who are breastfeeding, beyond the standard WIC clinic operating hours.
Telelactation connects breastfeeding professionals to breastfeeding mothers through telephone or video conferencing. Much like the other telehealth fields, telelactation has expanded in recent years.1 A clinical trial conducted with breastfeeding mothers and telelactation suggests that telelactation was not only in demand, but an overwhelmingly positive experience for the women who utilized the service.4 This clinical trial serves as evidence that telelactation could help West Virginia WIC address the gaps in our community breastfeeding support.
In 2019 the telelactation app, Pacify, was introduced to West Virginia WIC participants as a means to address the key issue of providing twenty-four hour breastfeeding support to nursing mothers. Shortly after the roll out of Pacify materials the COVID19 pandemic was declared. This project sought to examine the success West Virginia WIC participants had in using this telelactation application despite not having in person conversations about Pacify or assistance in setting up the application in the clinic. A retrospective observational design was employed using both self reported and computer collected variables.
Participants who called Pacify were able to leave open-ended feedback on the app at the conclusion of the call which was content analyzed using inductive coding. Between December 2019 and October 31, 2021, 1475 WIC participants were enrolled in the app. Of those 1475 participants, 350 lactation specific calls were made to Pacify with problems regarding infant feeding. Of the 350 calls, there were 97 feedback comments left about the service provided by Pacify. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and despite barriers presented by COVID19, Pacify shows to be a valuable resource for our participants and similar communities which may not have access to adequate breastfeeding support.

Abbreviated Description: Due to the health benefits of breastfeeding, our goal at WIC is to promote breastfeeding and provide support during breastfeeding for our new mothers. WIC identified the need for expanded breastfeeding support for mothers, beyond the standard WIC clinic operating hours. In 2019 the telelactation app, Pacify, was introduced to West Virginia WIC participants as a means to address the need for additional breastfeeding support. Between December 2019 and October 31, 2021, 1475 WIC participants were enrolled in the app and 350 lactation specific calls were made to Pacify. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and despite barriers presented by COVID19, Pacify shows to be a valuable resource for our participants and similar communities which may not have access to adequate breastfeeding support.