Three paintings of nursing images.

Stakeholder Spotlight: The IFC

/ Stakeholder Spotlight / By

We are grateful for the continued support of the staff at the IFC, the Inter-Faith Council for Social Services (https://www.ifcweb.org). They have been stakeholders and advocates since the Breastfeed Orange NC initiative began. The IFC supports chest/breastfeeding and human milk feeding families and employees and recently reaffirmed their commitment to being a “breastfeeding friendly” community partner and employer.

As a Community Partner:

  • Breastfeeding/nursing families are always welcome and respected. They will never be treated poorly, asked to stop nursing, or asked to cover up or move.
  • [The IFC] does not advertise infant formula or related products directly to families.
  • [They] support all breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding families inclusive of their race, ethnicity, immigration status, nationality, creed, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, family structure, primary language, ability, or class.

As an Employer:

  • All lactating employees are allowed breaks to express milk or nurse their children.
  • All lactating employees are allowed access to a private space for expressing milk. The space is shielded from view and includes an electrical outlet. The space is not a bathroom. 
  • The lactation space has hand hygiene available (hand sanitizer or sink nearby).

An exciting addition to the new IFC building in Carrboro is a warm and welcoming lactation space located near the meeting rooms. It is available to employees and all who visit the IFC. Check out these pictures! The artwork on the wall is colorful and meaningful! What a lovely space to express your milk or, if you need or want a quiet place, to feed your child!

The IFC Community Market

Community food pantries are integral to the health and well-being of families in our communities. The IFC supports a Community Market, along with other community programs, as part of its vision of “A community that meets everyone’s basic needs, including dignified and affordable housing, an abundance of healthy food, and meaningful social connection.” 

A community that meets everyone’s basic needs, including dignified and affordable housing, an abundance of healthy food, and meaningful social connection.

IFC Vision: https://www.ifcweb.org/about/mission-statement

What makes the IFC Community Market model so exciting is that it is a member choice market. That means that families shop for the food they need rather than having the staff select the food for them. In a standardized food pantry, as the name suggests, volunteers prepare and distribute standardized bags or boxes of generally the same foods for all families. A member choice market allows families to choose for themselves what products they receive; it recognizes that families know what works best to meet the families’ nutritional needs, and it reduces waste.

And, when viewed from the intersection of breastfeeding and food pantries, a member choice market can help to avoid the situation where families with children under one year are routinely given infant formula, when available*, whether it is needed or not. *Note: The automatic distribution of infant formula without first assessing need might not have taken place as often during the infant formula shortage. We hope that food pantries will update their policies now, so that formula will not routinely be given to families with infants – without first assessing need – once the shortage has passed. 

Why does this matter?

Chest/breastfeeding and human milk feeding offer an optimal start for infant growth and development, and it continues to promote child health and development for as long as the nursing relationship continues. In the early weeks and months after birth, the parent and infant are getting to know each other and both are learning how to make their nursing relationship work. Families that want to chest/breastfeed need lactation support and resources to help overcome challenges and to build confidence that they can meet their nursing goals. Chest/breastfeeding and human milk feeding families benefit from community welcome and support – extended family, friends, co-workers, employers, healthcare and childcare providers – to get nursing off to a good start.

When a nursing family receives an unsolicited or unneeded container of infant formula, it can undermine the family’s confidence, even when the nursing is going well and the child is growing! The infant formula might be given as a “just in case the breastfeeding doesn’t work or you are not making enough milk for your baby, you are all set with formula” backup, and that is an important reason why it can undermine the nursing relationship. The need for a “backup” introduces doubt into the parent’s nursing journey. The parent worries: “Am I making enough milk?” or “Is my infant growing okay?” or “Do I need to supplement with formula?” And this can occur with an older baby, too. When families receive unneeded formula for an older baby, they wonder if the baby is too old to continue nursing or if they cannot make enough milk for the older baby. These doubts and worries can negatively impact a successful nursing relationship. As a member choice market, the IFC Community Market allows families to choose the foods that best meet their needs and avoids unintended outcomes of distributing infant formula to nursing families. Nursing families, and all families, benefit from this model. Thank you to the IFC!

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Thank you to the IFC!