Dietetic Internship - Community rotation at WIC

My rotation at WIC went really well. I was able to work with so many pregnant moms and experienced moms, babies and dads over the 140 hours I spent here! I was able to experience a number of clinics throughout the state as well as attend the World Breastfeeding Month event.

For the event, I was also able to share a recipe for lactation cookies, some of the ingredients are covered through WIC - which is a plus! Mommas, feel free to give these tasty morsels a try to boost production! The three ingredients are oatmeal, flax, and brewer's yeast, all of which you can find at your local grocery store.

A board I created about the benefits and facts on breastfeeding presented at the world breastfeeding month event. WIC provides pumps to loan out, or they can also help you get a pump through your insurance! We also provide formula for Moms who can't or prefer not to breastfeed. We promote breastfeeding as it is the most beneficial and perfect food for baby since it has protective antibodies and a perfect proportion of fat, carbs, and protein individualized for your baby, but fed is best and formula is a great option, too. I personally think it is so amazing that our bodies can create our own food for our young!

Also on the board we discussed how to create your own #brelfie. Here is my brelfie with baby Addie. We wanted to come up with a unique theme for this year and these #brelfies were trending a while back. You mommas out there can download the PicsArt app and use the tree of life sticker pack and midnight filter and have your own work of art. Beautiful!

Here is the Seabrook clinic - a huge community center where they not only hold WIC there a couple times a month, but they also have health and dental offices, head start, a Cafe, and more.

The Raymond clinic was in a cute converted Colonial.

Here is the eWIC board! This will be so much more convenient for people who use WIC. It is going to roll out in November of 2018.  It is basically like a debit card that gets loaded every month and you can use any time to get a couple items at a time instead of using paper vouchers and having to get all your items at once and having to separate them at check out.

Here are the eligibility requirements for WIC in New Hampshire. Very helpful for families who need a little assistance with their groceries every month. 

For more information on WIC in NH, check here: 

WIC- NH

This rotation was a fantastic start to my internship! The people were amazing and very helpful, and I was able to learn so much about WIC, nutrition education for mothers, and the food packages they provide.

For other interns or others who want to know the typical day-to-day:

8:25 - Arrival to WIC

8:30 - clinic opens

8:30 - 12:00pm - Appointments

12-1pm - Lunch

1-4pm - Appointments

4-4:30 - wrap up/clean up

As an intern I was able to take height and weight for all ages as well as head circumference once within the first year. Interns generally don't perform HgB or blood iron levels or lead levels but I was able to perform on fellow nutritionists. I charted notes on each clients file, and I took on appointments on my own with nutritionist supervision. I was able to share my knowledge not only as a nutritionist/dietetic intern, but also as a mom, which I loved. I wish my rotation was longer but now I'm onto the next rotation!

Next I will do the last part of my community rotation which will be in outpatient nutrition with a diabetes educator. Can't wait! Stay tuned for the next post in about a month!

Any questions/comments below!


See my previous posts about the dietetic internship:
The Dietetic Internship is here!
5 Tips for Scoring a Dietetic internship