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August is National Breastfeeding Month – Get Connected to our Peer Breastfeeding Program

Did you know? The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breast/chestfeeding until your baby is six months old. You can then introduce complimentary solid foods while continuing to give human milk until two years or beyond, as long as it is a good fit for you and your baby.

Benefits of breast/chestfeeding and giving human milk include:

• Helps build a strong immune system in baby.
• Human milk has optimal nutrition that the baby needs, and it changes as the baby grows, giving the perfect amount of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.
• Improves baby’s cognitive development.
• Increases physical and emotional bonding between you and your baby.
• Lowers your risk for postpartum depression, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis.
• Quicker recovery from childbirth.
• Convenient and you can do it anywhere.
• It’s free and environmentally sustainable.

Our WIC Peer Breastfeeding Program improves health outcomes by increasing the percentage of individuals who start out breast/chestfeeding their baby and continue doing so.

Key facts about the Peer Breastfeeding Program:

• The program is open to WIC participants in Bloomington, Richfield, and Edina and is led by an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) with five peer counselors. The counselors are all parents with personal experience breastfeeding their own children.
• Peer counselors are trained in breastfeeding education and in client-centered counseling skills. If there are questions beyond their training, they can partner with the IBCLC who has additional training and education.
• Peer counselors are recruited from the communities they serve and often speak the same languages as their clients. They have similar life circumstances and experiences as participants, making them a trusted source of information and support.
• The Peer Breastfeeding Program strives to help each parent reach their personal infant feeding goals until their baby is one year old.

Learn more about the local Peer Breastfeeding Program. Find out if you are eligible for the program by calling 952-563-8993 or submitting an online referral form.

Get vaccines for you and your family with Bloomington Public Health

The 2024-2025 flu season in the U.S. was the most severe season since 2017-2018 and had the highest disease burden (number of people who have been sick, seen a health care provider for, been hospitalized with, or died because of flu) in the past decade. The flu vaccine is estimated to have prevented 240,000 hospitalizations.

Summer is the perfect time to make sure your child is up to date on immunizations required for school. You can check this list of vaccines needed by grade in Minnesota.

Bloomington Public Health provides vaccines because they prevent disease and save lives. You may be hearing in the news about changes to vaccine recommendations. Our focus remains on providing vaccines to protect our community from vaccine-preventable infection and disease. We will continue to follow guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health.

Public health removes barriers for access, so you can find the vaccines you need to keep you and your family safe. By increasing access to vaccines, we can keep our whole community safe.

If you don’t have health insurance or don’t have enough insurance, Bloomington Public Health offers immunizations through the Minnesota Vaccines for Children program and the Uninsured and Underinsured Adult Vaccines program.

Immunizations are available the first and third Tuesday of the month by appointment only from 12:30 - 4 p.m. at the Bloomington Public Health Center. Call 952-563-8900 to make an appointment. There is a $20 donation requested per vaccination, however, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Learn more.

Upcoming community events

Check out our events calendar to see where you can find us in the community!