I know many of you supported the Great Cloth Diaper Change in their attempts to spread awareness of the benefits of cloth diapering around the world. In a similar event, on Saturday 6th August 2011 at 10:30am thousands of nursing women and their babies across the United States will gather in their own communities to take part in the Big Latch On. The Big Latch on will be America’s first synchronized nursing event in multiple locations. I won’t be attending, because I no longer breastfeed, but if you breastfeed, I hope you can join them.
The Big Latch On is originally from New Zealand. It was introduced to Portland, Oregon in 2010 by Joanne Edwards as a celebration for World Breastfeeding Week. During the same week Annie Brown, a La Leche League Leader from Connecticut organized a simultaneous breastfeeding event in her home state. These two women have joined forced and for World Breastfeeding Week 2011, with the support of La Leche League USA, they are making this a huge national breastfeeding awareness event.
World Breastfeeding Week, August 1-7, is celebrated in 120 countries and marks the signing of the WHO/UNICEF document Innocenti Declaration, which lists the benefits of breastfeeding, plus global and governmental goals.
Those benefits are, of course, that breastfeeding contributes to the normal growth and development of babies, and babies who are not breastfed are at increased risk of infant morbidity and mortality, adult obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and premenopausal breast cancer and ovarian cancer (both mom and baby.) This is not to judge women who cannot nurse or who are uncomfortable with it. It’s simply that the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months of a baby’s life benefits, and non-exclusive breastfeeding for at least 2 years or as long as is mutually desired by mother and baby.
I hope it’s understood that contrary to militant breastfeeders, Everything Birth understands that some women cannot breastfeed. Furthermore, Everything Birth understands that some women just aren’t comfortable with it. I hope that with continued exposure, more and more women will come to become comfortable with it and that is why I completely support the efforts of The Big Latch On.
For more information:
www.lllusa.org/wbw/BigLatchOn.php
I always believed that all women can breastfeed. What happened before bottles and formula? Did babies just starve to death? I want to take part in the big latch on it sounds amazing.
Prior to formula and bottles, there were lactating sister, aunts and friends and wet nurses that would take over the role of nursing the child. There have always been women who couldn’t nurse, from the beginning of time, so those babies nursed from other women who were also nursing their own children.
One other thing to consider is that many women’s milk will not come in because of emotional pressures (from family or societal pressure) because of medication (that didn’t use to exist) or because of poor nutrition. (Many women in America do not eat appropriately for a nursing mother and lack the nutrients they need to have an adequate supply.)
I saw Elton John on a re-run of an interview a couple months after his adoption, and he was saying that he was staying with his son in California for a while longer before the family moved to their home in England *because his son was breastfeeding* (clearly with the birth mom). I was AMAZED, in a very excited and happy way 🙂 Here is someone with all the resources to have a supply of breastmilk provided for his son, but he chose to let his son feed from the breast during those first few months because even beyond a mother’s milk itself, there are so many benefits to feeding from the breast – and the fact that he “got” that was amazing to me (like i said, he could easily have a stash of breast milk for his baby if his only concern was the value of the milk). I felt so much love for him as he shared that!!!!
That’s phenomenal. I’ve heard it called the fourth trimester. 🙂
I guess I’m a militant breastfeeder. Eh… There are worse things to be. 🙂
You didn’t give me any crap when I gave up with Ayla after pumping and dumping for weeks and weeks… to find out she wasn’t interested. You can’t be THAT militant.
I am hosting this event in my home town! I am super excited to be a host and I wanted to thank you for being a supporter! You can check out our information fb page @ the big latch on in cartersville.
Thank you for supporting mummies of all kinds!
Hi! Our country currently holds the Guinness World Records on Simultaneous Breastfeeding in Single and Multiple Sites. Inspired by these success, we organized Synchronized Breastfeeding Worldwide last 2007. This year, our 5th, it will be held on September 30 – October 2 this year. I hope we can all make this a successful global effort like Stand Up Against Poverty and synchronize our dates next year 🙂
See: breastfeedingphilippines.weebly.com/synchronized-breastfeeding-worldwide.html
I hope your event will help promote and protect breastfeeding in your country. CHEERS!
BTW, the links you posted seems to be not working. will try to browse again later.