As July pulls to a close, and the sweltering heat of August sets in, lots of parents find themselves somewhere between reveries about the end of paying for summer childcare and the jarring reality that school is about to start up again.
While I am, like everyone else, knee-deep in registration forms and coupon clipping by this point, August also turns my thoughts toward something else - breastfeeding. That may have something to do with my profession as a Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC for short).
Each year, the first week in August is celebrated by the global community as World Breastfeeding Week, an international campaign to promote, support, protect and preserve the most basic bond between mother and child - the nursing relationship.
As an IBCLC, I admit that I ‘geek out’ around this time because, well, let’s face it, it’s kind of my version of Christmas. I call people and giggle. I plan. I decorate. I give gifts. I send out ridiculous pictures of our dogs dressed in people clothes.
In the midst of celebration, I also reflect on the reasons I’m in this line of work. I remember being a mom for the first time, figuring out that not only could I nurse and sleep at the same time, but that it made a great reconnect with my baby when I came home from work. I think of all of the milky smiles I’ve seen over the years - on my own kids snuggled in for morning nursings, and on the moms and babies I’ve seen at various points along the way - and all the tears of joy I’ve shed along with mothers as their babies finally latch on for the first time. I am so humbled to have experienced such an amazing bond as a parent and as a helper to those children and their mothers.
Likewise, there’s always a twinge of sadness for those who didn’t make it to their own personal goals - ones whose confidence was crushed, to whom poor information was given, whose decisions were not supported, and for whom help was too little, too late.
August, though, gives me a chance to reflect on where we’ve been and see where we’re going with mother and child health in the United States. While national breastfeeding rates are still abysmal (only one in four American babies are nursed at all by the end of their first year) parents are starting to ask questions. Breastfeeding support groups are flourishing in person and online. Hospitals are being certified as Baby Friendly, getting rid of outdated birth practices. The Federal and local governments, including the McLean County Health Department, provide breastfeeding support and promotion, and we’re finally treating it as more than a lifestyle choice; we’re making it a cornerstone of improving community health.
Come August, I see more than school supply lists and hazy mirages in the heat; I see the potential for something amazing on the horizon—a community that values the health of moms and babies, and provides the support to back them up.
Looking for support in your decision to breastfeed? Mark your calendar for the 6th Annual Breastfeeding Friends Fair!
The Breastfeeding Friends Fair connects mothers to local maternal child health resources and support they need for a successful breastfeeding journey. A network of support is essential to breasfeeding mothers and can include trained health workers, lactation consultants, community leaders, local mothers, fathers or partners. Listen to a panel of mothers provide breastfeeding advice, discover local breastfeeding support and family health resources, and visit the children activity center. This event is free and open to the public! Sponsored by the McLean County Health Department and The Baby Fold.
Where: The Baby Fold, 612 Oglesby Ave., Normal, IL
When: Tuesday, August 5, 2013, 10am-2pm
Brandy Hansen is a Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and the owner of The Mobile LC, a home-based breastfeeding help that comes to you. The Mobile LC offers breastfeeding help and education to meet YOUR goals in the home or hospital, as well as via Skype phone, email, text, or web. Learn more by following The Mobile LC on Facebook, by calling (309) 319-6619 or by email at mobilelactation@gmail.com.
