Daily Reporter staff reports
GREENFIELD — From August 1 to 7 of every year, the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action organizes World Breastfeeding Week to raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding and the need for global support.
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated in 120 countries. To mark this occasion, at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 4 and 5, thousands of breastfeeding women and their babies/children across the world will gather in their own communities to take part in the Global Big Latch On, a synchronized breastfeeding event in multiple locations. The local Big Latch On will be 10:30 a.m. Aug. 5 at the Hancock County Public Library, 900 W. McKenzie Road, Greenfield, IN children’s department.
Those who attend should arrive no later than 10:15 a.m.
The first Big Latch On took place in Aotearoa, New Zealand, in 2005; it was introduced to Portland, Oregon, in 2010 by Small Beginnings Group LLC and has since taken off globally.
This year the organization’s goal is to break the current Global Big Latch On records of:
•17,992 children breastfeeding during the count time period
•17,852 breastfeeding women attending
•48,628 total attendance
Their long-term vision is one day a Global Big Latch On event will be conducted within walking distance of every family in the world.
The Global Big Latch On is informed by the principles of community development, providing the opportunity for breastfeeding women to get together in their local communities, host their own events, and identify opportunities for ongoing support.
The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months of a baby’s life to optimize these benefits, continuing to breastfeed for two years and as long thereafter as is mutually beneficial for mother and child.
For more information, please contact the Hancock County WIC office at 317-462-3552 or text our breastfeeding peer counselor, Sarah Reid, at 317-448-6751.
