Celebrating World Breastfeeding Week October 1-7
Written by admin, October 1, 2014
October 1, 2014 – Families Invited to Annual Record-Breaking “Latch On” Event on October 4 at Galaxy Theatres
This year in celebration of Worl
d Breastfeeding Week, from October 1-7, 2014, Peterborough Public Health together with the Peterborough Breastfeeding Coalition has planned a community event to promote the unparalleled health benefits of breast milk for babies.
On Saturday, October 4 at 10:30 a.m., Public Health and the Peterborough Breastfeeding Coalition, are calling on all breastfeeding mothers in the area to set a new world record for simultaneous breastfeeding at the 2014 Breastfeeding Challenge event at Galaxy Theatres.
This event rallies nursing women to “latch on” at 11:00 a.m. local time and be counted toward two new world records, including the most mothers breastfeeding simultaneously at one location, and the most mothers breastfeeding at the same time in a province, territory or state. Following this, families will be treated to a free movie entitled the ‘Babies’. This endeavour is part of the 2014 Global Breastfeeding Challenge, an annual international event led by the Quintessence Foundation who will post the results on their website www.babyfriendly.ca .
“It’s important that nursing mothers and their families gather together and celebrate the importance of breastfeeding,” said Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Medical Officer of Health. “The longer a baby breastfeeds, the better it is for mom and the child. Events like this are important so families know the community supports them and that breastfeeding in public is perfectly normal.”
Dr. Salvaterra noted that breastfeeding: provides children with nutritional, emotional, immunological, anti-allergenic, and developmental benefits for as long as a child is breastfed; and has lasting effects even into adulthood.
Breastfed babies have lower rates of otitis media (ear infections), respiratory infectio
ns, and gastrointestinal infections (diarrhea). An analysis of 33 studies examining healthy infants in developed nations showed that formula-fed infants experience three times more severe respiratory illnesses compared with infants who had been exclusively breastfed for four months. Babies who do not receive breastmilk have an increased likelihood of being hospitalized in the first year of life. For very premature babies breastmilk is considered medicine and if a mother is unable to breastfeed, donor milk is prescribed as a means of protecting the baby from potentially deadly infections. Over the long term, children who were breastfed as babies are less likely to be overweight and have lower rates of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
Breastfeeding isn’t just good for babies, it also supports maternal health. Women who breastfeed experience lower rates of breast and ovarian cancers. In fact, the longer a women breastfeeds, the greater her protection is from ovarian cancer.
For more information about the health benefits of breastfeeding and local breastfeeding supports, visit www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca and under the “My Life & Health” section for Parents and Caregivers, click on “Breastfeeding”.
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For further information, please contact:
Dawn Hanes
Public Health Nurse
(705) 743-1000, ext. 289
dhanes@peterboroughpublichealth.ca