Weekly Wrap-Up: World Breastfeeding Week 2010

By Elita of Blacktating.com; for the Best for Babes Foundation ©2010

I knew that World Breastfeeding Week would bring a ton of coverage of breastfeeding in the media, but I had no clue we’d have so much to talk about this week.

First there was drama when supermodel Gisele Bundchen made some provocative comments about making 6 months of breastfeeding mandatory by law. Of course she was exaggerating, but we wish more women could meet the gold standard of 6 months exclusive breastfeeding.  We tried to reach her publicist in the hopes that Gisele would use this opportunity of being in the spotlight to talk about a few laws that we DO need:  like paid maternity leave, and a law enforcing the WHO Code, but had no luck.

The Surgeon General made me proud by releasing a statement in honor of World Breastfeeding Week, acknowledging the disparities in breastfeeding rates and committing to help create an environment that supports all mothers who choose to breastfeed.

We also learned about a new documentary called Prescription Milk, about how donor breast milk is saving the lives of babies in NICUs all over this country, yet many families are unable to obtain the liquid gold. The tear jerker trailer has been released and we can’t wait to see the whole film!

The Central Texas Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies group also presented a “Keep Austin Breastfeeding Flash Mob” at a park in Austin, TX. The flash mob featured dancing, singing and rapping to promote breastfeeding, along with a remix to It Takes Two that you don’t want to miss!

It was a great week for Best for Babes, as several new sponsors signed on, including Motherlove, Hadley Stilwell, and Belabumbum, announcing their commitments to donate a percentage of sales to Best for Babes-these sponsorships are ongoing and we are thrilled to welcome them to the Best for Babes family.   Pumpease announced that all proceeds from their new door hanger will go to BfB.    In addition, We Add Up pledged $3 from the sale of every Breastfeed t-shirt from August 1-7 to go to Best for Babes, we’ll let you know how we made out (special thanks to Babble.com for promoting it).  For more companies that “give back” to BfB when you buy their products, check out our SHOP page and our corporate alliance page.

I also loved two blog posts by Caffeinated Catholic Mama on the ABCs of breastfeeding. She listed 26 benefits of breastfeeding based on the letters of the alphabet. Check out her 2-part series. What are your favorite benefits of breastfeeding?

The folks at Ameda would also like to know why you breastfeed. Join celebrity mom Bethenny Frankel and upload a 20-second video explaining why you breastfeed and it will be displayed on the Ameda I Breastfeed Because site. For every video uploaded, Ameda will donate $5 to the Human Milk Bank Association of North America.

And my favorite story this week came from the NY Times. A group of researchers at UC Davis have discovered that a large portion of breast milk can’t be digested by babies because it is used to coat and protect the infant’s intestines. In what will probably go down as the best quote in breastfeeding activism history, one of the doctors said of breast milk, “It’s all there for a purpose, though we’re still figuring out what that purpose is. So for God’s sake, please breastfeed.”

Finally, we asked you on Facebook what the best thing about World Breastfeeding Week was and you said…

Kacey Brooke Tinsley: Taking part in Portland’s, “Big Latch On” yesterday.

Kati Ford: my son, born with severe neurological impairments, who many (including myself at times) never thought could nurse deciding he wanted it from the source Sunday, nursing consistantly the whole week.

Kristen Marie Troutmask: The feeling of family from my online community (that I am mostly lacking in my real life community)! ♥



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...


4 Comments | Last revised on 08/08/2010


This entry was posted in Main Content. Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Weekly Wrap-Up: World Breastfeeding Week 2010

  1. thais says:

    The other day you asked what could be done to stop the booby traps. I was thinking about that. When you need the most help it always seems to be in the middle of the night. You go to the 24hour walmart at 2am and walk down the baby section looking for anything that will help and all you see are bottles and formula. If they could have a section for bfing with supplamenting nursing systems, bottle of fenugreek and and other herbs and books on bfing or information on milk supply mabe you won’t turn to bottles and formula because you are desperate. I did that with my first child and if their was anyother choice I think I would have chosen diffrently.

    • Bettina says:

      A live, 24 hour toll-free number (i.e. a hotline, not a warmline) that was very well publicized would be good too!

    • Andra Hough says:

      I agree comepletly. I ended up bottle feeding my first just because i was so discouraged and didn’t have anyone to tell me that i would get through those first few weeks that are the hardest. No one told me that the pain and swelling wouldn’t last forever. The second time, i lived down the street from the hospital’s lactation specialist, and she really helped and i did so much better. The third time, i knew i could do it.

  2. mrsculpepper says:

    Actually there is a 24 hour breastfeeding support line created by La Leche League though I don’t know how well it has been publicized. It’s 1-877-4-LALECHE (1-877-452-5324) http://www.lllusa.org/helpline.php

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *