Information for Physicians and Health Care Providers

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a food and nutrition education program aimed at improving the health of pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children under five years of age. The SDSU Foundation WIC Program would like to thank you for allowing us to share information on how the WIC Program can benefit your patients. The program provides:

  • Individual and group nutrition education and counseling.
  • Supplemental foods that support the nutrition education.
  • Breastfeeding education and support
  • Referrals to local agencies and community groups

WIC is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, administered in California by the Department of Health Services and operated locally through grants to different nonprofit agencies.

What can WIC do for you?

- Reinforce and expand on your nutrition recommendations to help keep your patients at lower risk for health complications.

- Provide your patients with WIC checks for specific nutritious foods such as milk, eggs, cheese, cereal, juice, beans and peanut butter. If your patients are exclusively breastfeeding they also receive fresh carrots and tuna. Although WIC encourages breastfeeding, we do provide infant formula for breastmilk supplementation and for non-breastfed infants.

- Your patients who are WIC participants are more likely than others to keep their prenatal appointments.

- Make appropriate intercommunity referrals for your patients.

Who is eligible to participate in the WIC Program?

  • Participants must be:
  • Pregnant Women
  • Breastfeeding women for up to one year after delivery
  • Non-breastfeeding women for up to six months after the termination of pregnancy
  • Children from birth to five years of age

- Participants must reside in the United States

- Participants must fall within the WIC income guidelines. Please refer all of your low-to-moderate income families to WIC and the WIC staff will determine income eligibility at no cost.

How you can refer your patients to the WIC Program.

- Download a WIC referral form from this web site and fill in the required information: Postparturn/Breastfeeding Women; Pregnant Women; Pediatric

(Click on the link for the Referral Form you desire. A PDF document should begin to download immediately. Adobe Acrobat Reader required.)

or

- In a prenatal booklet or on a prescription pad include your patient’s:

  • Name
  • Height
  • Birth Date
  • Weight
  • EDC
  • Hemoglobin or Hematocrit results
  • Documentation of any medical/nutritional risk factors
  • Include your clinic address, sign and date the form

- Instruct your patient to call the SDSU Foundation WIC Program, Toll Free at 1-888-999-6897, for more information about WIC. Your patient will be referred to the WIC agency that best fits her needs.

- Women wanting to remain on the WIC Program after their pregnancy will need to bring health information from their six-week postpartum check-up. A postpartum form can also be downloaded from this web site.

If you would like more information on the WIC Program, please do not hesitate to contact  Sarah Larson at (858) 505-3070. We are also available for presentations that will describe the WIC referral process and the benefits the WIC Program can provide to your patients.

We at WIC look forward to working with you in providing services to WIC-eligible families.