San Benito County residents will hold various events to
commemorate World Breastfeeding Week and Breastfeeding month
starting today.
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated each year Aug. 1 through
7.
San Benito County residents will hold various events to commemorate World Breastfeeding Week and Breastfeeding month starting today.
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated each year Aug. 1 through 7.
Events in San Benito County celebrating the month include:
– The San Benito Alliance for Breastfeeding will walk in support of breastfeeding on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 10 a.m. starting at the Veteran’s Memorial Building and ending at Dunne Park.
– La Leche League International is a nonprofit organization that in addition to helping mothers, offers professional education through its physicians seminars, lactation consultant workshops and international conference. LLLI’s office houses the largest compilation of breastfeeding research in the world. La Leche League of Hollister South will be participating in La Leche League International’s annual World Walk Thursday, Aug. 7, 6 p.m. at Frank Klauer Memorial Park in Hollister. People can join as a sponsored walker or just go out and walk. For information contact Arlene at 636-3021 or [email protected].
– San Benito Alliance for Breastfeeding is sponsoring the training of two lactation counselors to be available to nursing mothers and babies in our community by the end of 2003.
This year’s Breastfeeding Week theme, as announced by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), is “Breastfeeding in a Globalized World – for Peace and Justice.”
Human milk is a remarkable and renewable resource, and breastfeeding’s positive effect on mothers and babies remains despite political changes, climactic conditions and environmental factors.
Research shows that exclusive breastfeeding delays the return of fertility, has proven an effective means of reducing the death rate from childhood malnutrition and diarrhea in developing countries, and supports optimal infant growth and development with many benefits extending well beyond infancy. Breastfeeding provides significant benefits not only to infants but also to breastfeeding mothers who reduce their risk of breast and ovarian cancer as well as osteoporosis.
Breastfeeding’s advantages extend well beyond the many health benefits to both mother and child. Breastfeeding also saves money and protects the environment. Breast milk is free and breast-fed babies suffer fewer illnesses. As a result they need fewer doctor visits, which in turn help keep health costs down. Breast milk also needs no processing, no packaging, no transportation to stores, and no energy to heat or cool.
World Breastfeeding Week is part of WABA’s ongoing campaign to increase public awareness of the importance of breastfeeding. Aug. 1 marks the anniversary of the signing of the Innocenti Declaration on the Protection, Promotion and Support of Breastfeeding which was adopted in 1990 by 32 governments and 10 United Nations Agencies. The declaration outlines specific ways in which governments and medical institutions can help promote breastfeeding.
For more information on the events or breastfeeding, call 637-5367.
