World Breastfeeding Week: Celebrating Nature’s Perfect Food

Motherhood in its early stages can bring exhaustion, excitement, confusion, and gratification. Throwing breastfeeding into the mix can be a bit overwhelming for some, but the commitment to such an endeavor should be applauded and encouraged, and is honored this week every year. World Breastfeeding Week, an annual celebration from Augusts 1 to 7, is celebrating the art of breastfeeding this week with a new campaign: "Talk to me! Breastfeeding - a 3D Experience."

Breastfeeding is considered to be the best start in every infant's life. Mothers are advised to breastfeed their infants exclusively for six months and give appropriate complimentary foods, and continue breastfeeding their baby until they are two years old. A medical director from the Breastfeeding and Human Lactation Study Center in the University of Rochester said, "Every newborn should be breastfed as this would provide the best nutrition, the greatest infection protection, the most illness prevention, and the greatest food security and psychological protection for the infant."

It is not an easy task for a new mother to continue breastfeeding while they are returning to work when the infants are just three or four months old. They have to plan very carefully on when and how to pump and store the breastmilk during the hours they are working. The Affordable Care Act enacted last year will help in this endeavor. According to Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin, “The law requires employers to provide time and a safe space for women employees who want to express their milk. It also requires health plans to offer certain preventative services without cost-sharing requirements, including counseling and support for mothers who want to breastfeed and for nursing mothers.”

This year’s slogan, takes this into consideration. The 3-D experience includes the two dimensions of time and place, but add in the third dimension of communication. According to WHO, “Communication is an essential part of protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding. We live in a world where individuals and global communities connect across small and great distances at an instant's notice. New lines of communication are being created every day, and we have the ability to use these information channels to broaden our horizons and spread breastfeeding information beyond our immediate time and place to activate important dialogue.”

Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding on Page 2