Breastfeeding around the world in Breastfeeding Week

This is my 200th blog entry and I am going to use it to celebrate the efforts to promote breastfeeding over the next 10 days.

World Breastfeeding Week begins on 1 August, with the theme of breastfeeding in the first hour. See:
http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/

You can download a pamphlet from that site, which is operated by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action. We have a stock of printed pamphlets so contact us if you are in the UK and would like some.

At the end of the week, on 8 August, there will be a world record attempt for most mothers breastfeeding at different locations around the world. The way it will work is mothers will gather together to breastfeed at 10 am local time.

You can find out further information at:
http://www.breastfeedingworld.net/

You can register via the site if you wish to participate and it has contact emails for national coordinators. In the UK, the coordinator is Michelle Atkin of Little Angels.

These are the goals of the event as given on the site:

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GOALS

1. To gather the most number of mothers in Synchronized Breastfeeding Worldwide, that is, participants will breastfeed at exactly the same LOCAL TIME in their Time Zone. Like the celebration of New Year, with every hour in succession for a 24-hour period, countries in one time zone will be breastfeeding simultaneously. See enclosed list of countries in each Time Zone.

2. To make a permanent and on-going roster of the national records of each nation on simultaneous breastfeeding in a single site and in multiple sites, urging each nation to surpass its own record every succeeding year.

3. To establish cooperation between nations, each nation competing with its own record. The Organizers will keep a roster of achievements of every nation,

(a) its record for single site.

(b) its record for multiple sites,

(c) the national record for breastfeeding mothers per million population as the true measure of their effort and achievement,

(d) the overall record for each Time Zone, and

(e) above all, overall worldwide record for each year. Each nation will follow a standard set of Event Guidelines.

4. To nurture a fellowship among breastfeeding mothers in their locality and country that may facilitate the formation of mother support groups.

5. To establish simultaneous breastfeeding as a form of universal prayer for peace and thanksgiving for the gift of motherhood and breastfeeding.
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In Birmingham, the Good Hope and Solihull Hospitals had a series of skin-to-skin photos taken of local mothers with their babies, some with fathers as well. These will be displayed around the maternity hospitals as portraits and developed into posters and a leaflet for distribution to pregnant women. See:
http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/worldwide.htm#UK

While we often think of the need to stop aggressive marketing of baby foods and to support mothers in breastfeeding, it is good to remember that breastfeeding is widespread and rates are improving, as recorded in the report on the Innocenti Declaration. See:
http://www.ibfan.org/site2005/Pages/article.php?art_id=61&iui=1