2008 World Breastfeeding Week Begins August 1
Jacksonville, Florida, August 1, 2008 -- This year's World Breastfeeding Week is August 1-7 and calls on health professionals, employers, families and communities to provide a breastfeeding-friendly environment that helps new mothers reach their breastfeeding goals.
The week's theme, "Mother Support: Going for the Gold -- Everyone Wins When Babies Breastfeed," highlights the importance of providing support for breastfeeding families.
"The support from the community helps to create an environment that allows mothers to provide their children with the best start to life -- the ultimate nutrition," says Sandy Mullin, manager of Maternal Newborn Services at Baptist Medical Center Downtown.
"Breastfeeding is the perfect nutrition for babies made especially by their mothers," Mullin says. "Breast milk is healthy for babies' digestive tracts and enhances their long-term learning ability."
To promote a healthy start, it is important for breastfeeding mothers to be supported by the entire community, says Mullin. At Baptist Downtown, a breastfeeding room is provided to accommodate patients and employees who need to feed their babies or pump their breast milk.
Mullin recommends that local businesses support breastfeeding mothers by providing a private room for them to feed their child, and employers could allow time for breastfeeding mothers to pump during their work day. "It is vital for the mothers to feel at ease and have the amenities available to provide their child with the proper nutrition," Mullin says.
Mothers are urged to breastfeed their babies as soon as they can -- usually within the first hour after birth, Mullin says. The World Health Organization reports that the gold standard in breastfeeding means that women breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of life and continue breastfeeding for at least two years while babies begin eating age-appropriate complementary foods.
According to a joint study of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, breastfeeding has a profound impact on both infant and maternal health, including reducing the risk of ear infections, gastroenteritis, severe lower respiratory tract infections, atopic dermatitis, asthma, obesity, type 1 and 2 diabetes, childhood leukemia, and sudden infant death syndrome in the child, as well as breast cancer, ovarian cancer and type 2 diabetes in the mother.
The goal of the 2008 World Breastfeeding Week is to heighten the awareness of breastfeeding, support breastfeeding mothers and educate mothers-to-be who are trying to decide whether or not to breastfeed.
Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton has signed the 2008 World Breastfeeding Week Proclamation, which recognizes breastfeeding as the gold standard in infant feeding and calls upon citizens to be part of the circle of care for mothers and babies in the community.
