In West Virginia, breastfeeding rates are below the national average, but officials are hoping to change that. Last month, the state’s Office of Nutrition Services and Office of Maternal Child Health, the West Virginia Breastfeeding Alliance and the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership sponsored the Center for Breastfeeding’s forty-five hour Lactation Counselor Training Course to provide research-based information and clinical competency validation of the provision of professional lactation care.

More than 50 medical professionals, community members and mothers took part in the sold-out, week-long training. At the conclusion of the course, eligible participants could sit for an exam to receive the designation of Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC).

The local NBC affiliate, WBOY-TV, covered the event, where West Virginia Breastfeeding Alliance Director Molly McMillion told reporters, “You’re really talking about a public health issue. Anybody who knows anything about infant feeding knows that breastfeeding is healthier for babies, but also that it is not always easy.”

View the coverage here.