New program supports breastfeeding mothers

Colfax mother Makayla Butler holds her new baby, Serenity, born March 20.

Approximately 200 mothers or soon-to-be mothers in Whitman County are now receiving ongoing breastfeeding tips through a new county program.

A $13,000 grant to the county’s Women Infants and Children program, or WIC, is paying for four peer counselors to work part-time with mothers on breastfeeding. Administered by a county nurse, Joy Grey, the program began in early March. Most WIC offices throughout the state received grant funds for the program.

Peer counselors each have a group of women with whom they work. The couns...