MCHD WIC hospital liaisons sign up moms at WVU Medicine Children’s & UHC
May. 20, 2025
MCHD WIC hospital liaisons sign up moms at WVU Medicine Children’s & UHC
MORGANTOWN — When Madison Baughman delivered her daughter Maggie in March, she already had a lot on her plate.
The dramatic birth followed a preeclampsia diagnosis, a medical helicopter ride from Fayette County with her fiancé Bryan Brugnoli — recovering from surgery himself — racing up I-79 to be with her, a Caesarean section and a stint for Maggie in the NICU at WVU Medicine Children’s.
So when Chrissy Rodeheaver, a breastfeeding peer counselor with Monongalia County Health Department’s WIC program, stopped by to see Baughman and get the family signed up for the Women, Infant and Children’s (WIC) federally-funded nutrition program, it was a huge relief and convenience.
“She came directly to my recovery room and took care of all the paperwork for us,” Baughman said. “It felt like we were just having a conversation rather than doing paperwork. She asked how the baby and I were doing and shared some of her similar personal experiences with the NICU.
“She made us feel right at home.”
That makes perfect sense because that’s Rodeheaver’s job as MCHD WIC’s hospital liaison to new mothers at WVU Medicine Children’s.
Rodeheaver spends most of her working hours on the labor and delivery floor of WVU Medicine Children’s. She visits mothers, usually as they are being discharged, to see if they qualify for WIC. If they do, they receive nutritional counseling as well as benefits loaded onto an EBT card and help with breastfeeding through on-site advice, classes and/or a 24-hour app.
Sometimes the client is new, and sometimes she already has previously qualified and gone through the program.
“Everyone who we’ve been able to certify or re-certify has been really grateful,” Rodeheaver said. “We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response. It’s one less thing for them to worry about during their postpartum period.”
WIC clients include pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding mothers and children up to the age of 5 who financially qualify. Mothers on Medicaid and foster parents automatically qualify. To see the financial guidelines, go to www.monchd.org and click on the WIC/Breastfeeding tab and then the WIC Eligibility Guidelines tab.
MCHD WIC oversees the WIC program in Monongalia, Preston, Marion, Harrison, Doddridge and Taylor counties, but the hospital liaison can help new mothers who live outside of that region, such as Baughman, from Ansted.
A pilot program between WIC and WVU Medicine Children’s began in late June 2023 and lasted through January 2024. After some changes, the program started back up last September. A similar program was launched at United Hospital Center in Bridgeport in December 2024, with Stephanie Marshall of MCHD WIC’s Harrison County office serving as liaison.
“They are so thankful to have us there,” Marshall said. “Having a baby is a big deal, even if it’s not the first. I have a 6-year-old and a 2-year-old, and the four-year difference — I thought I didn’t know how to hold a baby.”
In addition to talking to the new mothers and loading benefits on the card, Rodeheaver and Marshall can also provide breastfeeding tips, although they are not allowed to touch the mother or the baby.
“You can guide them to tweak positioning so the babies can latch,” Marshall said. “The most minor things can help them with their breastfeeding journey.”
Said Rodeheaver, “Increasing rates of breastfeeding increases positive health outcomes for mothers and babies overall.”
Before the hospital liaison program, some new mothers would stop by the Morgantown WIC office on their way home from the hospital, which can be unwieldy and uncomfortable just after giving birth and with a newborn baby in tow.
This program can eliminate the need for that, as well as aid in finding potential clients who might have otherwise fallen through the cracks.
“The program is going really well,” said Cami Haught, MCHD WIC program manager. “The staff and participants at Children’s are really receptive and excited to have us there.”
Numbers have been good at both locations, Haught said. Since the September re-launch at WVU Medicine Children’s through April, 176 mothers had been certified (111) or recertified (65).
Since December at UHC, 106 mothers have been certified (57) or recertified (49).
Officials at the statewide WIC office are so pleased that the program will be expanded to seven additional WVU Medicine hospitals across four local WIC agencies between fiscal years 2025 and 2027, said Heidi Staats, director of the Office of Nutrition Services at the West Virginia Department of Health.
This will be funded with a WIC infrastructure grant, Staats added, and MCHD WIC’s two programs will be transitioned to this grant during that same time period.
Regina Scott, project manager for Patient and Family-Centered Care at WVU Medicine Children’s, said that having the WIC liaison stationed at the hospital has been helpful.
“This partnership helps to ensure that we are closing any resource gaps that the families may have,” she said.
Although the liaison program helps keep new moms from having to visit the WIC office upon leaving the hospital, Maggie’s stay in the NICU gave Baughman and Brunoli plenty of time to visit Rodeheaver at WIC and look through a clothes closet provided for clients.
“Chrissy has been lovely!” Baughman said. “She made everything so simple and walked us through everything we needed to know about getting started with WIC.
“It was so nice to have someone who understood our situation and wanted to help rather than adding to our already very full plate.”
For up-to-date information on health and wellness in Monongalia County, check out monchd.org and follow the health department on Facebook and Twitter @WVMCHD and on Instagram at #wvmchd.