This fall Lamaze Family Center welcomes our student intern, Ella Clark. Ella is a senior at EMU majoring in Women's Studies. As part of her internship she will be researching and writing occasional blog posts here on the Lamaze Family Center blog. In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, she has compiled some information and resources which you can find below. Welcome Ella, and happy World Breastfeeding Week to all the breastfeeding moms past, present, and future out there!
Breastfeeding Awareness Week 2014: “A Winning Goal For Life!”
August 1st 2014 marked the beginning of the 22nd annual World Breastfeeding Week (WBW), sponsored by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). The United States is one of 175 countries to participate in this yearly event which seeks to promote and encourage breastfeeding worldwide. Groups of breastfeeding mothers and their supporters have participated in WBW events across Michigan, including Kalamazoo’s second annual event known as the Big Latch On where over 100 women publically breastfed their children in unison. Women who choose to breastfeed in public, such as those who attended the Kalamazoo event, have recently gained more protection from the state. Mid June of this year, the Michigan Legislature passed the Breastfeeding Antidiscrimination Act, which states that women have the right to breastfeed in any public location throughout Michigan without fear of penalty or repercussion. Demonstrations such as the Big Latch On and the recent passing of the breastfeeding bill show that Michigan’s residents have made strides toward accepting breastfeeding as a normal part of childrearing. In fact, a recent report by The Detroit Free Press indicates that the number of infants breastfed in Michigan is increasing.
According to the Michigan Department of Community Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) breastfeeding has a wide range of benefits:
-Breast milk changes with your child's nutritional needs
-Breast milk protects children against certain allergies and illnesses including obesity, diabetes and pneumonia
-Breastfeeding produces no waste
-Breastfeeding saves the family money that would be spent on formula
-Breast milk is clean
-Reducing the Mother’s risk of type 2 diabetes and certain forms of cancer
-Breastfeeding strengthens the bond between mother and child
Along with understanding the benefits of breastfeeding it is important that women who choose to breastfeed also feel their decision to do so is supported by those around them. In honor of World Breastfeeding Week the WHO has created several informational posters about supporting a mother’s decision to breastfeed.
For those in the Ann Arbor area, the Lamaze Family Center of Ann Arbor hosts a number of classes designed to assist women and their partners who wish learn the breastfeeding basics and how to continuing breastfeeding through your transition back to the workplace. If you are a Lamaze educator or would like to learn more about Lamaze International’s role in Breastfeeding Awareness Week take a look at what Lamaze’s Science and Sensibility blog has to say.
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