Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
TAYLORSVILLE — Over half of Utah women and children who are eligible for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, often referred to by the acronym WIC, aren't enrolled in the program.
In fact, Utah has some of the lowest WIC coverage rates in the country, with U.S. Department of Agriculture data showing that only 36% of those eligible for WIC are covered by the program.
In other words, roughly 8,000 infants, 14,000 women and 50,000 children are missing out on a program that's been proven to reduce infant deaths and premature births, improve children's diets and help mothers' maternal health.
The women at nonprofit Comunidad Materna en Utah want to know why.
They hope a $372,000 federal grant will help them identify what barriers may be preventing Latina and Pacific Islander women from using the program for themselves and their children. The data they collect will eventually be used to provide suggestions for local and state agencies on how to make WIC, and other health resources, more accessible.
"This data is not just going to help with the WIC program, it's even to see a bigger picture these maternal health issues," Mayra Sanchez, who is a doula and founder of Comunidad Materna, said. "And that's why we're excited."
Malia Tomasi, a doula of Tongan heritage who's partnering with Comunidad Materna on the grant, said there is a huge gap in data collection about Pacific Islanders and WIC.
"That's one reason why it is so important to reach the Pacific Island community. We don't have any data to go off of," she said. "With the Pacific Island community, within that community there are so many — there's Tongan, Samoan, Native Hawaiian, there's Micronesian. It's a large community, and so getting that individual data is important."
Tomasi said a barrier for the Pacific Islander community is culturally relevant information and resources about WIC, while Sanchez added another barrier is the misconception that using the program is equivalent to becoming a "public charge." For Latinas living in rural areas, a lack of Spanish-speaking health care workers can also be a big barrier. It's an issue Comunidad Materna has noticed during its work in Delta and one it hopes to continue to explore through the grant.
Both Tomasi and Sanchez stressed the importance of providing their communities with doulas and community health workers who reflect the ethnic and racial diversities of their communities since, as Tomasi put it, getting health care information from "somebody that looks like you" can go a long way in helping women trust the resources they're given.
"I went through and I knew if somebody doesn't start the work, nobody else is gonna start it," Sanchez said. "I'm a mother of nine kids. So being an immigrant mother, having a lot of kids (I was) without many places where I can look for help — and not just helping with a basic things; it's also emotional support, connecting with others and addressing mental health. And now this is space to empower and connect."
More information about Comunidad Materna is available on its website, Instagram and Facebook. The nonprofit can also be contacted at info@cmutah.org or 801-613-0034.
