Breastfeeding Support

Organizations listed in the database include, but aren't limited to:

• Maternal Health Programs – provides family-centered and community-based services to support the health of moms and their children. Services include helping connect women with doctors during pregnancy, consultations with nurses during pregnancy to identify any health risks, overall promotion of healthy lifestyle choices, and support for depression through listening visits.
• Women, Infant, and Children Programs (WIC) Clinics – clinics providing supplemental food assistance, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women and to infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk. Individuals must apply and qualify to receive benefits.
• Public Health Departments – governmental agencies located within each county that focus on supporting and improving the public health of the community. Public Health Departments are a trusted and reputable source of information and can connect moms to lactation support within their community. Some Public Health departments have lactation providers on staff to provide services to moms with breastfeeding concerns.
• Prenatal Clinics – locations where women receive care during their pregnancy. Care is typically provided by either OB-GYNs or family medicine physicians. OB-GYNs specialize in pregnancy and childbirth, while family medicine physicians offer comprehensive care, including managing low-risk pregnancies. These clinics can be connected with hospital organizations or be independent.
• Birthing hospitals – a health care facility that provides care for and assists with childbirth. Many birthing hospitals offer breastfeeding support following the delivery of a child.
• Donor Milk Depots – locations where women can donate extra expressed breast milk. The Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa takes donated milk, pasteurizes it, and provides it to infants who need it.
• Private practice lactation providers – qualified professionals who specialize in breastfeeding care and support. They typically operate in community settings rather than hospitals or clinics.
• Doulas – non-medical professionals who provide emotional, physical, and educational support during childbirth. Studies show that doula support can be linked to better birth outcomes and increased breastfeeding rates. 

Visit the database to find resources near you. For questions or support regarding the Iowa Breastfeeding Database, please reach out to Lexie Stoneking, Breastfeeding Coordinator, at lexie.stoneking@hhs.iowa.gov. 

Find resources near you by visiting the database.

We invite local organizations that work with pregnant and breastfeeding women to put their information into the breastfeeding database. This will ensure that we have a complete list of resources for families looking for support. 

If you have questions or would like to have your organization listed on the Iowa Breastfeeding Database, please contact Lexie Stoneking, Breastfeeding Coordinator, at lexie.stoneking@hhs.iowa.gov. 

WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselors are paraprofessional women, who have successfully breastfed despite barriers and challenges, and are enthusiastic about sharing their breastfeeding experience and knowledge with women of their culture and language. Peer counselors are current or past WIC participants and work closely with WIC and healthcare providers to promote breastfeeding in their communities.

The use of breastfeeding peer counselors adds value to WIC’s efforts to help women initiate and continue breastfeeding. WIC breastfeeding peer counselors provide a valuable service to their communities, addressing the barriers to breastfeeding by offering breastfeeding education, support, and role modeling. Peer counselors are familiar with the resources available to WIC clients, are familiar with the questions a breastfeeding mother may ask and recognize when to refer mothers to other resources during critical periods when mothers may experience difficulty.

Currently, all 15 WIC agencies in Iowa offer peer counseling services, covering 99 counties across the state. There are nearly 40 trained peer counselors serving over 4,500 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers each year.

The USDA Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Award of Excellence was established to recognize local WIC agencies that have provided exemplary breastfeeding promotion and support activities. Recognition is given at three levels of performance: Gold Award, Premiere Award (mid-level), and Elite Award (highest level award). More information, including Iowa awardees, can be found on the USDA WIC Breastfeeding Award of Excellence page.