Action Ideas for
World Breastfeeding Week 2004
Exclusive Breastfeeding: the Gold Standard
Safe, Sound, Sustainable
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Over 120 countries
celebrate World Breastfeeding Week. While the U.S. celebrates from
August 1st – 7th, many countries celebrate in the first week of
October.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) launched in 2002 the Global Strategy for Infant and Young
Child Feeding that called on all countries to promote and
support exclusive breastfeeding for six months.
This year’s theme, Exclusive Breastfeeding: the Gold Standard -
Safe, Sound, Sustainable, will focus on getting
people worldwide to understand the importance of exclusive
breastfeeding during the first six months of life.
Exclusive breastfeeding means the infant will only receive breast milk
and no other food or liquid except vitamins, mineral supplements, or
medications.
Babies were born to be breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months
of life. After 6 months, continuation of breastfeeding with the
addition of complementary foods is recommended. |
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Exclusive breastfeeding is:
- Safe because breast milk provides protection
against common illnesses such as respiratory illnesses (colds,
flu, and pneumonia), intestinal illnesses (vomiting and diarrhea)
and ear infections.
- Sound because the nutrients found in human
milk are made just for human infants. Breast milk is continually
changing to meet the needs of the growing child.
- Sustainable because breastfeeding provides
an infant with a source of food as breast milk is always available.
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WIC Clinics
- Choose one day during World Breastfeeding Week
to honor your staff for all the work they do in breastfeeding
promotion and support.
- Give all breastfeeding women on WIC a certificate for breastfeeding. Frame
or laminate the certificates.
- Recognize dads with a certificate for their support of breastfeeding mother/infant
dyads.
- Set up a table display or bulletin board in your clinic featuring employees
and clients who have breastfed. Attach quotes from these mothers.
- Distribute a breastfeeding book to all prenatal clients.
- Develop a proclamation for your governor or local mayor to sign. Laminate the
proclamation for display
at WIC clinics, libraries, day care centers, and conference exhibit booths.
- Launch a Gold Ribbon Campaign where women are provided gold ribbons to attach
to diaper bags, purses, strollers, or back packs to signify breastfeeding as
the Gold Standard. Staff could attach ribbons to their
name tags or lanyards.
- Send World Breastfeeding Week postcards with encouraging messages to all prenatal
and breastfeeding clients.
- Place articles about breastfeeding in local agency newsletters for August.
Health Care Providers
- Send a breastfeeding information packet to all
hospitals that deliver babies in your area.
- Send thank-you notes to health care providers that are supportive of breastfeeding.
- Provide physicians and other health care providers with a basket announcing
World Breastfeeding Week. Include such items as a breastfeeding poster, reference
book, bookmarks, brochures, magnets, lanyards, pens, or note pads.
- Attach a
breastfeeding balloon.
- Volunteer to provide breastfeeding education to local physicians’ office staff.
- Develop a breastfeeding-friendly medical office checklist and disseminate to
local health care providers.
Community
- Set up a “rock and relax” booth at the state fair
with three areas: a changing area with diapers and wipes, an
area for breastfeeding education materials and someone to answer
questions, and another area with rocking chairs for mothers to
nurse their babies.
- Host a baby shower or mother/grandmother tea.
Have a speaker, handouts, door prizes, and serve light refreshments.
- Get involved with a local La Leche League group. Call 1-800-525-3243 to find
the group closest to you.
- Recognize businesses that are breastfeeding friendly to their employees or patrons.
- Give a certificate or send a thank-you.
- Plan a walk during World Breastfeeding Week. Visit the La Leche League site at
www.lalecheleague.org to
learn more.
- Ask local grocery stores to put World Breastfeeding Week on their grocery bags.
The bag design could include information about breastfeeding and a list of local
names and phone numbers of support services.
- Wear breastfeeding promotion shirts and buttons to support World Breastfeeding
Week.
Media
- Run ads to raise awareness of the importance of
breastfeeding.
- Write a feature story about breastfeeding including this year’s theme, breastfeeding
facts, and local resources. Send to daily and weekly newspapers.
- Volunteer to appear on a local television or radio station to be interviewed
about World Breastfeeding Week.
Additional Materials
La Leche League International is the distributor of
the 2004 World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) Action Folder.
To place an order or request an order form, call the Order Department
at 847-519-9585 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Central Standard Time.
Ask for the 2004 WABA Action Folder – Exclusive Breastfeeding: The
Gold Standard: Safe, Sound, Sustainable. The cost will be $1.50 each
plus shipping. Bulk discounts are available.
Kits to kelp plan for World Breastfeeding Week are available from the International
Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA). The kit includes a press release, bookmark,
certificates, sample proclamation, and action ideas. The cost of the kit is $15
plus shipping. Buttons will also be available from ILCA this year. To order the
kit or buttons, contact ILCA at:
1500 Sunday Drive, Suite 102
Raleigh, NC 27607
Phone: 919-861-5577
E-mail: info@ilca.org
Online: www.ilca.org
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It’s not what we want to think about when we
plan for the fun times of summer. Food often plays a large part of our
activities whether we
Developed and distributed by the
National WIC Association Breastfeeding Promotion Committee (6/2004)
Compiled from state World Breastfeeding Week activities
World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action graphic printed with
permission
You can also visit
www.lalecheleague.org
www.ilca.org
www.waba.org.my
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this page
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