ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
A worker from Seward County’s Women Infants and Children (WIC) office recently received an award from a state agency.
WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Lilia Perez was named one of the recipients of the Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition’s Rising Star Award at the coalition’s annual conference earlier this year, and like many who receive awards, the news came as a surprise to her.
“I went to my e-mail, and I got a notification saying I had been nominated and awarded,” she said.
Still in surprise, Perez said she felt she was not going to be able to travel to Wichita to receive the award due to ongoing funding concerns for the county.
“We didn’t have any funds for me to go,” she said.
Perez later told her children about the award, adding she felt she was not going to be able to go to Wichita because of the county’s budget problems, but the children encouraged her to make the trip, which she eventually did.
“They told me, ‘No, you have to go,’” she said. “My girls were the ones who ended up taking me to get it. It was pretty awesome being recognized for something I love doing.”
Perez said she felt proud receiving the award, but even having attended previous KBC conferences, she did not feel she one day would be receiveing such an award.
“They are all doing a wonderful job, so for me to be recognized with all those great people who are there doing the same thing was really wonderful,” she said referring to the other Rising Star recipients. “It’s like a recognition for myself. I proved to myself that in whatever I’m doing, I’m doing a good job.”
Before coming to WIC, Perez was a case manager for the Kansas Children’s Service League’s Head Start program and a stay-at-home mom with four children, three of whom she breastfed in infancy.
“That was one of the reasons I was able to come and do this job,” she said.
Perez, who has worked with Seward County WIC for five years, came to Southwest Kansas from Southern California, and she said the breastfeeding program in the local WIC office is more hands on than other such programs.
“I do go to the hospital every Monday through Thursday and see all the new moms,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re WIC clients, I see all of them. I try to help them by giving them information about breastfeeding.”
Perez also assists new mothers with breastfeeding as she shows them how to do it, and she said this helps significantly, adding mothers see the care she provides.
“You’re going to where they just gave birth,” she said. “You’re always telling them we’re here, but we’re actually showing up for it.”
Perez likewise contacts her clients through other means.
“I do have a caseload where I have all the moms who are breastfeeding or planning to breastfeed, and I tend to contact them at least once a month,” she said. “It depends on their needs. If they need me to be calling and checking on them daily or weekly, I would do that too.”
For those she cannot help, Perez refers mothers to WIC Director Tammie Thompson, and she said whether it is her or Thompson, much help is provided, and mothers know they can get assistance from the local office.
Initially, Perez was not interested in the work she now does, but she said prior to coming to WIC, she saw an opening for a breastfeeding peer counselor at the office that caught her attention.
“You had to have been a breastfeeding parent,” she said. “That got me in, and at the beginning, I just figured breastfeeding was like any other normal thing. It’s not that complicated. It’s not that big, but the more I learned, it was eye- opening to how important it is to breastfeed. I could tell moms were creating life, and even after birth, they are still doing that.”
Perez said she wants get more moms to breastfeed and let them know the importance of breastfeeding.
“I think there’s a lack of knowledge of how important breastfeeding is for your child to grow up and all the benefits it has not only for the baby, but also for the mom,” she said.
In her job, Perez said she loves the connections she makes with mothers and their babies.
“I get to see them grow,” she said. “I get to see premature babies we never thought were going to make it. We have seen three-pound babies, four-pound babies. You see them, and they’re walking and playing. It’s right there in front of you. You saw that, you went through that with them. You become part of their family too.”
Receiving the Rising Star Award, Perez said, is recognition for the work she and others do.
“I do it because I love to do it,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting an award, but that’s like the cherry on top.”
Perez said the award also shows her she is making a difference in lives.
“When I feel like I’m not making a change or I’m not getting out there enough, I can look at it and be like, ‘Yes I am,’” she said.
Thompson talked about the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child, including the reduced risk of hypertension, diabetes, breast cancer and ovarian cancer. She said for babies, there are many benefits as well.
“You’re passing on some immunities and antibodies to the babies, so they don’t tend to get as sick as if they were just formula fed,” she said. “They tend to have fewer ear infections.”
Thompson said mothers with breastfeeding issues can call the local WIC office to speak to herself or Perez, both of whom will work closely to help with any problems.
In addition to her work with WIC, Thompson likewise works with the Seward County Health Department where the WIC office is located, and she said through both SCHD and WIC, she can help mothers with breastfeeding matters.
“If there’s anybody who doesn’t qualify for WIC, we can get them worked in as well and help them with whatever they need,” she said.
Thompson said breastfeeding has seen a large increase in recent years, and a huge increase was seen in 2020 and 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A couple of factors there are COVID and moms wanting to be able to do what was best to protect their babies from COVID, and breastfeeding is one of those,” she said. “Another one was there was a huge formula shortage. They strongly worked with moms and encouraged moms to breastfeed. We did that at the hospital as well.”
Thompson added breastfeeding is becoming more normalized and promoted in recent years, and this too is leading to an increase in its use.
“This generation looks things up and reads a lot when they’re making decisions,” she said.
Former WIC Director Tiffani Krause said the KBC has been a big advocate of breastfeeding, largely promoting its normalization.
“They worked with every county,” she said. “They work with the governor to get the proclamation. They’ve helped us in the smaller counties get the education out there, and they’ve educated our staff and us on all the benefits as well.”
To receive breastfeeding services, call the WIC office at 620-626-3262, or go by SCHD at 1411 W. 15th Street in Liberal.
“We try to get them in as soon as possible,” Thompson said. “Sometimes, we make them a priority, especially if they’re having issues, to get them in as soon as possible even if we have to rearrange other clients.”
