Lucy Corkhill

By Lucy Corkhill

02nd August 2012

World Breastfeeding Week is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and promote the deep bond and health benefits of breastfeeding. For most green parent readers, breastfeeding is a natural extension of the kind of parenting you believe in. But in many places it is still taboo, and many pregnant women just don’t get the support or positive reinforcement to make breastfeeding a part of their lives.

Lucy Corkhill

By Lucy Corkhill

02nd August 2012

Lucy Corkhill

By Lucy Corkhill

02nd August 2012

In our culture, breasts are often sexualised, rather than celebrated as incredible and life-giving, and a vital part of our children’s lives. Even in countries where breastfeeding was once considered the only way to feed a child, aggressive formula advertising has caused women to doubt their own capabilities. World Breastfeeding Week is an opportunity to highlight the wonders of breastfeeding and get as many people talking about it as possible, so that women who might not consider it are able to witness it as a healthy, normal part of parenting.

World Breastfeeding Week (WBW), held from 1-7 Aug, celebrates its twentieth anniversary in 2012. Twenty years ago the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) launched the World Breastfeeding Week campaign to focus and facilitate actions to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. Since then, each year, WBW has put the spotlight on various breastfeeding issues. This year it focuses on the progress that has been made on the implementation of the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding (GSIYCF) which was adopted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF ten years ago. Implementing the Global Strategy effectively is essential to increase breastfeeding rates: especially exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and to reach Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 (which aims to reduce under five mortality by two thirds).

Ten ideas to celebrate this WBW:

1). MASS BREASTFEED IN PUBLIC
Get together with a group of fellow breastfeeding mums and breastfeed proudly in public. Support in numbers will make this a less intimidating activity, so you can pick a place where your breastfeeding sit-in will have maximum impact, such as at your local shopping centre. Get some leaflets from La Leche League or your local breastfeeding support group to hand out to interested parties. If people are rude to you, ignore them, and carry on with what you believe in. Remember that rudeness always stems from fear and ignorance and you are gradually changing people’s perceptions. If you change even one person’s ideas about breastfeeding, you are making a difference.

2). PROMOTE YOUR SUPPORT GROUP
Get together a local breastfeeding support group, if you don’t have one already. Take it in turns to host meetings, make food to share etc. If you already have a successful and established breastfeeding support group, how about making leaflets/flyers to hand out in places where women are less likely to breastfeed? Get in touch with your local hospital about handing them out on the post-natal ward, and try your local SureStart Centre to reach out to women who need you most.

3). USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO SPREAD THE WORD
If you have a Facebook or Twitter account, write something positive and inspiring about breastfeeding every day for the week. Post pictures of your baby feeding and tell as many people as possible about the wonders of breastfeeding.

4). GET IN TOUCH WITH LOCAL MEDIA
How about contacting your local paper with information about breastfeeding and support groups? The more accessible information you can get out into the public arena, the better, and with so much media at our disposal now we’re in an excellent position to get our voices heard!

5). FUNDRAISE
Hold a fair or coffee morning to raise money for La Leche League or a breastfeeding organisation working in developing countries/ war zones/ refugee camps etc. Or you could put the money raised towards books on breastfeeding to have available at your local post-natal ward or family support centre. Advertise your fund-raising activity in the local press and make sure as many people hear about it as possible.

6). ORGANISE A TALK WITH CAKE!
Organise a talk with a local La Leche League leader/ breastfeeding counsellor, and invite as many women (and their partners) as possible. Get people to bring a cake and make it a festive occasion! You could also do back and shoulder massage swaps for aching breastfeeding shoulders.

7). HELP OUT A FRIEND
If you have a friend who you know has been struggling with breastfeeding, offer to help her out at home as much as you feel able for a week, perhaps taking her other kids out or preparing extra when you make a family meal to take round. Honour her journey as sacred and create as much time as you can for her to really focus on connecting with her baby and finding their unique breastfeeding path. You’ll get the wonderful warm glow of knowing that you have helped one little person have the very best start in life.

8). SUPPORT PARTNERS
The beliefs and attitudes of a woman’s partner directly influence how successful her breastfeeding journey is. Education is key, so perhaps you might want to team together with other breastfeeding mums and create a lending library of breastfeeding books for women and their partners. Direct reluctant or disinterested partners to websites such as www.fatherstobe.org. You might even want to host a get-together for partners to meet and support one another.

9). CELEBRATE WITH PICTURES
Check out the World Breastfeeding Week photo competition and take your own to enter into next year’s competition.

10). MAKE A PLEDGE
Make a pledge to do something, however small, this WBW, and enter your pledge form at http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/pledges.shtml. All pledges will be entered on a worldwide map, giving breastfeeders and their supporters a sense of a wonderful connected community.

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