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Breastfeeding


Breastfeeding is a normal, natural part of life. Breastfeeding helps to protect babies from illnesses like ear infections and diarrhea, as well as helps reduce their risk of long term health problems like diabetes and even cancer. Breastfeeding is good for moms, too. It helps stop postpartum bleeding, shrinks the uterus back to its normal size faster and can help mom lose the baby weight.

Even though breastfeeding is natural, many moms and babies need support along the way and the Pike County Health Department is happy to help.

Lactation Consults
Lactation counseling is provided through the clinic by an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Lactation consults are beneficial to help correct positioning and latch problems, assess infant intake and address poor infant weight gain. To schedule an appointment call Jan Johnson.

WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Program
The WIC Program understands that sometimes no amount of training can replace real life experience. That can be especially true for the experience of motherhood. Our peer counselors have participated on WIC themselves, have breastfed their own babies and have been trained to provide basic breastfeeding support. They are available to help women on the Pike County WIC Program learn about breastfeeding, get started with breastfeeding and help moms through problems that may come up along the way. Peer counselors can talk with moms over the phone, by email, text message, meet moms in clinic and even visit moms at home or visit in the hospital to help baby get latched on well. This program is about moms helping moms.

Professional Education
Thanks to grant funding through the Kentucky WIC Program breastfeeding training sessions can be provided to nursing schools, medical schools, physician offices and hospitals throughout eastern Kentucky by Regional Breastfeeding Promotion Coordinator, Jan Johnson, RD, LD, IBCLC. Jan can also link healthcare providers to resources their patients may need.

Breastfeeding Warm Line
From questions like “Is this medication safe during breastfeeding?” to “My baby is so gassy! What can I do?” The Pike County Health Department is happy to help moms get through challenges by phone or email. Jan Johnson’s contact information is listed above. If she is not immediately available she will return your call or email as soon as possible.

Clinical Services


Clinical preventive health services include medical, nursing, nutrition, social education and environmental interventions designed to assist individuals and communities in obtaining and maintaining an optimal level of wellness. Most services are provided for a nominal fee, but some services are based on income and number in the household.

No person is turned away for their inability to pay.

In addition to the services expanded in the navigation to the left, we also offer the following:


  • Breastfeeding counseling
  • Cholesterol screening
  • CDL, school, and sports physicals
  • Dental sealant program
  • Diabetic services
  • Fluoride varnish
  • StayWell
  • Lead screening
  • Nutrition services

Family Planning


Our Title X Family Planning Program is a comprehensive clinic designed to support planned conception, spacing of births, prevent unplanned pregnancies, and encourage good reproductive health. The Family Planning clinic assures universal access to family planning services for all.


Family Planning Services may include:

  • Pap smear
  • Pelvic Exam
  • Breast and Testicular Exam
  • Pregnancy Testing
  • Pregnancy Option Counseling
  • Testing, treatment, and counseling of STD’s
  • Birth Control
  • Emergency Contraceptives (The health department stresses that abortion is not a method of birth control in our facility)
  • Referral for sterilization options

Advantages to using our clinic:

  • No monthly visits to the pharmacy. Our birth control measures are kept on site
  • Total charge is based on income for those without insurance
  • Insurance can be billed
  • Immunizations and lab work is available
  • Same Day Scheduling

All of our services for men, women, and adolescents are done in a completely confidential manner.

For additional information and resources please visit the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Division of Women's Health website: https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dwh/Pages/default.aspx or the Kentucky Cabinet For Health and Family Services website at: https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dwh/Pages/familyplanning.aspx

Immunizations


The Pike County Health Department offers the Vaccine for Children Program. This program specifically provides vaccinations to children from birth through 18 years of age that have Medicaid insurance, K-chip, no insurance, or are considered under-insured (insurance doesn’t cover vaccinations). We provide all vaccinations to keep your child healthy into adulthood!

The Pike County Health Department keeps vaccinations in stock for private insurance as well! These vaccinations cover children and adults. We can bill your insurance for this service. The vaccinations that are kept in stock can vary due to demand. Feel free to call our office to see if we have what you need in stock!

Is your child up to date on their immunizations? Check out the CDC’s easy to read vaccination schedules.

Need immunizations for oversea travel? Check out the CDC’s Traveler Health page. You can get up-to-date information on vaccinations, outbreaks, best travel practices, etc. The Pike County Health Department does not provide typhoid, yellow fever, malaria, or rabies vaccinations for overseas travel.

Did you know the Pike County Health Department has some special immunization projects where adults may be able to obtain vaccinations for free? Read about our ongoing vaccine programs below.

Adult Vaccine Program

Vaccines for adults that are uninsured are also available for free! If there is an outbreak associated then some vaccines are free to those with insurance as well. Currently available is the Hepatitis A vaccine and the Tdap vaccine. Call to inquire about what may be available to you!

Male Clinic


Attention young men! Our Male Clinic, specifically for male patients between the ages of 15 – 29 years of age, is back by popular demand.

Appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are welcome.

Interested in what the Male Clinic has to offer? We can provide:

  • Education, testing, and counseling on STD’s and HIV
  • General health exam
  • Education on contraceptives
  • Education on health in general
  • Self-testicular exams
  • Education on sexuality
  • Prevention of unintended pregnancy and the responsibilities of fatherhood

The Pike County Health Department does not refuse care based on the inability to pay for services.

Sexually Transmitted Disease/HIV Testing


Sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s) are infections that are passed through sexual contact. STD’s can affect people from all socio-economic backgrounds. A large percentage of people do not know if they are infected with an STD because they do not have any symptoms of an infection. When left untreated, STD’s can cause harm to organs throughout your body. STD’s do not go away on their own, you must seek medical attention. Is it time you got checked?

We offer the following tests:

  • Education, testing, and counseling on STD’s and HIV
  • General health exam
  • Education on contraceptives
  • Education on health in general
  • Self-testicular exams
  • Education on sexuality
  • Prevention of unintended pregnancy and the responsibilities of fatherhood

It usually takes around 2 weeks to get your test results back. However, the HIV test is considered a “rapid” test. As such, it only takes a couple of minutes to get the results while you wait in our office.

All testing is done in a confidential matter.

Ways to decrease your chance of being infected with an STD:

  1. Condom use
  2. Abstinence
  3. Mutual Monogamy
  4. Decrease number of sexual partners

The Pike County Health Department does not refuse care based on the inability to pay for services.

Tuberculosis (TB) Program


Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. The infection usually attacks the lungs, but can attack parts of the body including kidneys, spine, and brain. If not treated active TB can be fatal.

There are two types of TB that the Pike County Health Department monitors:

  1. 1. Latent TB infection - The person is infected with the TB “germ,” but it does not make them sick or anyone else around them sick. The person’s body can fight the bacteria from growing, but not to get rid of it totally. If this bacterium becomes active, it could multiply and become active TB. This is when you may infect others.

  2. 2. Active TB disease - The bacteria is active and your immune system cannot fight off the disease. You become sick and will pass TB on to others. A person with active TB will be prescribed special antibiotics made specifically to fight TB disease.

The Pike County Health Department performs TB risk assessment/evaluation on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. After the evaluation, if you are at high risk for TB you will be given a TB skin tests. The cost is $20.00. You will need to return in 48-72 hours to have the TB skin test evaluated.

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)


If you are pregnant, recently had a baby, are breastfeeding, or have a child younger than five years of age, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) could help you. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a short-term intervention program designed to influence lifetime nutrition and health behavior in high-risk populations. WIC is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture.

WIC provides:

  1. Nutrition education and services
  2. Breastfeeding promotion and education
  3. A monthly food prescription of nutritious foods
  4. Access to maternal, prenatal, and pediatric health-care services

WIC saves lives and improves the health of nutritionally at-risk women, infants, and children. The results of studies conducted by FNS and other non-government entities prove that WIC is one of the nation’s most successful and cost-effective nutrition intervention programs. Since its beginning in 1974, the WIC Program has earned the reputation of being one of the most successful Federally-funded nutrition programs in the United States. Collective findings of studies, reviews, and reports demonstrate that the WIC Program is cost effective in protecting or improving the health/nutritional status of low-income women, infants, and children.

The following highlights some of the findings.

Improved Birth Outcomes and Savings in Health Care Costs

Research has shown that the WIC Program has been playing an important role in improving birth outcomes and containing health care costs. A series of reports published by USDA based on linked 1988 WIC and Medicaid data on over 100,000 births found that every dollar spent on prenatal WIC participation for low-income Medicaid women in five states resulted in:

  1. longer pregnancies
  2. fewer premature births
  3. lower incidence of moderately low and very low birth weight infants
  4. fewer infant deaths
  5. a greater likelihood of receiving prenatal care
  6. savings in health care costs from $1.77 to $3.13 within the first 60 days after birth

Improved Diet and Diet-Related Outcomes

Studies have found WIC to have a positive effect on children's diet and diet-related outcomes such as:

Improved Infant Feeding Practices

WIC promotes breastfeeding as the optimal method of infant feeding. Studies show:

  1. WIC breastfeeding policy and program activites were strengthened in the early 1990's
  2. Between 1996 and 2001, the percentage of WIC mothers breastfeeding in the hospital increased by almost 25 percent, from 46.6 to 58.2 percent
  3. The percentage of WIC infants breastfeeding at six months of age increased by 61.2 percent, from 12.9 to 20.8 percent
  4. For those infants who are fed infant formula, 90 percent received iron-fortified formula, which is recommended for nearly all non-breastfed infants for the first year of life

Immunization Rates and Regular Source of Medical Care

A regular schedule of immunizations is recommended for children from birth to two years of age, which coincides with the period in which many low-income children participate in WIC. Studies have found significantly improved rates of childhood immunization and of having a regular source of medical care associated with WIC participation.

Improved Cognitive Development

Cognitive development influences school achievement and behavior. Participation in the WIC Program has been shown to:

  1. improve vocabulary scores for children of mothers who participated in WIC during pregnancy
  2. significantly improve memory for numbers for children enrolled in WIC after the first year of life

Improved Preconception Nutritional Status

Preconception nutritional status is an important determinant of birth outcome. A previous pregnancy can cause nutritional depletion of the postpartum woman, particularly those with high parity and short interpregnancy intervals. One study found:

  1. women enrolled in WIC both during pregnancy and postpartum periods delivered infants with higher mean birth weights in a subsequent pregnancy than women who received WIC prenatally only
  2. the women who received postpartum benefits had higher hemoglobin levels and lower risk of maternal obesity at the onset of the subsequent pregnancy

Women's Cancer


Breast and cervical cancer screening services are available to women at our Pikeville office.


Services may include:

  • Pap smears
  • Pelvic exams
  • Breast exam abnormal test result follow up and care
  • Counseling on treatment options
  • Assistance with signing up for the Breast and Cervical Center Treatment program (BCCTP)

Routine periodic screening encourages early identification of precancerous conditions of the cervix and early stage diagnosis of cervical cancer. Most cervical cancers CAN be prevented with detection and early treatment of precancerous lesions. Monthly breast self-exams, annual clinical breast exam, and regular mammography screenings aid in the early diagnosis of breast cancer.

Cervical cancer prevention video

For more information about the Women's Cancer Screening Program please visit chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dwh/Pages/cancerscreening.aspx and for more more information about breast and cervical cancer treatment please visit https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dms/dpo/epb/Pages/bcctp.aspx. Find out more on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KYWomensCancerScreeningProgram/