Breastfeeding and Sustainability

Today is day 1 of World Breastfeeding Week 2016, an annual event created by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action. This year, WABA partners with organizations around the world to promote breastfeeding as an important part of global Sustainable Development Goals. These 17 goals can help transform the world by 2030!

Think about it--breastfeeding is sort of an obvious part of fighting hunger, but WABA is working on spreading the word about breastfeeding's role in fighting poverty, building gender equity, quality education, climate action, and responsible consumption/production, among other sustainability goals. 

This year, the WABA focus is building awareness of these issues.  They say (emphasis ours): "New evidence presented in the UK medical journal, the Lancet, confirms that optimal breastfeeding could save823,000 child lives and add $302 billion to the global economyannually. Breastfeeding lays the foundation for good healthfor all children both in the short and long term, and alsobenefits mothers. However, global breastfeeding rates haveremained stagnant for the past two decades. Less than 40 %of infants under six months of age are exclusively breastfed.In actual fact, women face many barriers to breastfeeding.They may receive inaccurate information from healthproviders, lack lactation support from male partners withinthe household, have no access to skilled breastfeeding counseling, face aggressive marketing of breastmilksubstitutes or beforced to return to work soon after giving birth These barriers make it exceedingly difficult for womento breastfeed exclusively for six months (with no additionalliquids or food) and to continue breastfeeding for two years orlonger, as recommended by the World Health Organization."

If you poke around the WABA site, you can find ideas to help promote breastfeeding as a normal way to feed babies. Here are 2 things you can do this week:

1. Engage Dads: talk to dads of breastfeeding babies about their important role supporting their partner, helping to nurture their baby, and helping to get babies off to a healthy start. Dads are so important--it might not feel heroic to handle the cooking or laundry while mom is nursing, but anyone who has ever taken care of a newborn knows this time is intense. Dads are an integral part to helping moms meet their breastfeeding goals. 

**We know that female partners are just as integral, but research shows us that dads in particular seem to need this encouragement and information.

2. Breastfeed in Public: Help people in your community to see breastfeeding as normal. Boys and girls need to see women breastfeeding to learn about it...and many adults in our country have lost this view of breastfeeding as normal. So go on and nurse in public! If you're not nursing, go ahead and encourage mothers you do see nursing in public. You can thank them for helping to normalize this healthy choice!