Leading Lactation Insights - February 2023

This month we are spotlighting Arilede Miano, LDN, IBCLC

Megan Quinn

Arilede Miano, LDN, IBCLC – WIC Program, usually goes by Nica – her forever nickname – and has been working for Maryland’s WIC program since 1998. She currently works at the Prince George’s County Health Department and she is the Breastfeeding Coordinator and Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program Coordinator. She shares that she originally pursued a career in healthcare because she always paid attention to others’ health issues as a child and always had a strong desire to help people. She says “I had a particular interest in what people were eating. Remember those big encyclopedia collections? No Google back then for research! I’d make a mess in the living room and read many books about science, anatomy, and physiology.” Once in college, Nica was excited to have the opportunity to pursue nutrition and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Human Nutrition from the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil. 

Nica soon began working at a 300-bed hospital as the lead dietician and was eventually promoted to the maternity hospital in her city in Brazil. There, she immersed herself in learning more about lactation and spearheaded several programs to enhance mom and newborn care, including development of prenatal classes, coordinating the hospital’s human milk bank, and much more. In 1994, Nica was part of the team who received a UNICEF award for their Baby-Friendly Hospital and the hospital became a reference for outstanding breastfeeding promotion and support throughout their region. Shortly after, Nica met her husband and moved to his hometown in Maryland to begin their lives together. She began working for the WIC program in the late ‘90s, where she says “I could have all the room to practice my passion – which is to help moms and babies have a healthy start in life.” Nica became an IBCLC a few years later to further expand her knowledge and interactions with other lactation professionals.

Currently, Nica’s role is heavily involved in guiding parents to provide healthy nutrition for their babies, children, and selves. She offers individual and group nutrition and breastfeeding classes, individual counseling for high-risk participants, trains staff and breastfeeding peer counselors, and oversees the breast pump loan program. Nica is proud to share that when she started in WIC over 20 years ago, the WIC breastfeeding initiation rate in her county was about 37% - and now data shows that this fluctuates around 85 – 87%! “I am also a member of the Maryland WIC Breastfeeding Committee, where I collaborate with the state WIC office to provide training for employees statewide,” she shares. “This has been incredible, exciting, and a successful journey.”

In her free time, Nica enjoys volunteering in the community and spending time with her husband, Skip, and their two cats. They like boating, visiting waterfront restaurants on the Chesapeake Bay, and especially when their son visits and brings the fish and crabs he catches in the Bay! Their daughter will soon graduate college. As a family, they love visiting Brazil and staying close to their roots there. Thank you for all that you’ve done for families all over the world and to help moms and babies be their healthiest selves!

Thank you to this issue's contributors!