World Breast Feeding Week recognized at fair
World Breastfeeding Week is an important week for many breastfeeding moms all over the world. It is a great opportunity to raise awareness and inform the public about why breastfeeding is important and how we can support breastfeeding moms each and every day.
It is important to recognize the need to create a safe environment and suitable policies for breastfeeding moms. Whether a woman is working from home, self-employed, working in a corporate entity or is a full-time mother, she needs to feel empowered to claim the right to breastfeed on behalf of herself and her baby. Together we can make it work.
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated worldwide during the first week in August. It was first initiated 27 years ago by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). WABA is a global network of organizations and individuals who believe breastfeeding is the right of all children and mothers.
The Alliance members dedicate themselves to protect, promote and support the right to breastfeed for any woman who chooses to breastfeed. The Alliance’s vision is a world where breastfeeding is the cultural norm, where mothers and families are able to feed and care optimally for their infants and young children, which in turn contributes to a healthier society.
The slogan for World Breastfeeding Week 2018 is Breastfeeding: Foundation of Life. One of a mother’s primary responsibilities is to ensure that her baby is getting enough to eat. Breastfeeding is the ideal way to give a baby the best nutrition. Also, it creates a close and emotional bond between the mother and baby. It is, therefore, a foundation of life.
Protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding is vital to a more sustainable world. Breastfeeding is a universal solution to lay a foundation for good health of children and women.
Together we can work towards a healthier, more prosperous and sustainable future. Often mothers are challenged by barriers that limit their ability to breastfeed. These barriers can include a lack of access to quality healthcare services, lack of support from family and/or community in addition to appropriate breastfeeding friendly workplace and employment policies. It does take a village to develop and sustain a warm chain of support for all of our breastfeeding moms.
California’s Lactation Accommodation Law states that employers must provide a reasonable amount of time for breastfeeding and pumping needs to their employees/working moms. Employers must also make every effort to provide a private space, other than a restroom close to the workspace of a lactating woman. As a community, we can be supportive of breastfeeding mothers and infants as we raise awareness of the importance and the benefits of breastfeeding.
In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, Plumas Rural Services WIC and MILC (Mountain Inter-agency Lactation Coalition) will be hosting an event at the Plumas -Sierra County Fair, the week of Aug. 8-12. Our event will take place during the entire week of fair. We would like to invite any parents interested to join us at our “Rock and Relax” station. We will be providing a comfortable private location, for breastfeeding, diaper changing, regrouping and relaxing with your child. Please join us in showing your support, and helping to encourage making breastfeeding the new normal.
