| Peer counselor knows firsthand the benefits of breastfeeding |
Krista Mee began working as a breastfeeding peer counselor with the Chickasaw Nation Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program June 1, 2005. However, her passion about the benefits of breastfeeding began long before she arrived at the Chickasaw Nation. Her story is one that speaks volumes about breastfeeding.
Krista had her first daughter, Amber, at the age of eighteen. She says as a young mother she didn’t realize how her decisions would affect every aspect of her child’s life. More importantly, she was never taught those things either. She had a desire to breastfeed but no real foundation on why or how.
She was sent home from the hospital with her daughter and no instructions or help on what to do next. Her baby had been bottle fed in the hospital, but Krista still had the desire to breastfeed.
“The nurses ‘kindly’ let me sleep at night,” Krista says, “but I was confused as to why I had such a hard time doing the natural thing.”
One day after coming home, Amber was back in the hospital with jaundice. Krista was told to pump because the doctors said the breast milk would only make the jaundice worse. From then on she continued to pump but was supplementing quite a bit with formula, making bottles so family members could help “feed” the baby.
“When Amber was almost six months old, we both got chicken pox,” Krista stated. “I had a high fever so I gave up breastfeeding.”
Krista says Amber was always sick; ear infections, allergies, asthma and then, at 15, Amber developed insulin dependent diabetes. Because there are no diabetics on either side of the family, Krista began to ask herself where it all came from.
Krista was expecting her second child when the family moved to Alaska. There, Krista became involved with a breastfeeding mother’s support group, La Leche. Through this peer group, Krista says she learned so much from the other mothers and chose to breastfeed each of her four other children a year to two years.
“None of my other children were ever sick; no ear infections, allergies, asthma, cavities or diabetes,” Krista remembers. “I was devastated when I learned that breastfeeding can help prevent diabetes and other health problems. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t see my daughter taking her five (insulin) shots a day and I don’t die a little.”
Krista says the guilt she has is something she didn’t want any other young woman to have to experience.
“I wanted to be a Peer Counselor,” she added, “so I could give moms information that may help them to make positive choices.”
It’s that passion that brought Krista to the Chickasaw Nation and pushes her to counsel and care for the young mothers she meets each day. She has found her place helping others learn the important lessons that she missed as an eighteen year old mother, and that will speak volumes in their lives and the lives of their children.
Krista and her husband Nick have six daughters, Amber 18, Kayla 17, Jacqueline 10, Emily 8, Madeline 7, and the newest addition to their family is expected to make her arrival around Valentine Day. The Mee family makes its home in Noble, Oklahoma.
Note: The WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor program was established to provide support and education to mothers who want to breastfeed. Peer Counselors are available in all WIC locations and surrounding areas in the following cities: Ada, Ardmore, Tishomingo, Sulphur, Pauls Valley, Duncan and Purcell. Debra Cox, a board certified Lactation Consultant, coordinates the program and offers specialized help to moms having difficulties establishing breastfeeding.
Their goal is to make breastfeeding the preferred method of infant feeding for all mothers as is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. For help and support in the area of breastfeeding call (580) 399-2002, (580) 310-6420, or the toll free breastfeeding warm line, (888) 439-8970.
Printed from www.ChickasawTimes.net.
