Breast milk is inexpensive, readily available, comes in the perfect environmentally friendly feeding vessel, and provides all the nutrients your baby needs for the first six months after birth.
The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continued breastfeeding, with the introduction of solid food, for two years or beyond.
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated in Canada from October 1-7, 2014. This year’s theme – Breastfeeding: a winning goal for life – recognizes that when mothers and babies succeed in their breastfeeding plans, they can enjoy a lifetime of benefits.
Breastfeeding provides health benefits to both baby and mother. Breast milk provides infants with unique nutritional and health benefits, such as antibodies and reduced risk for developing asthma, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and becoming obese in later life.
For the mother, breastfeeding helps the body recover from the stresses of pregnancy, labour, and delivery; and the risk of developing breast cancer is also reduced.
Public health nurses are available at health units across Interior Health to assist mothers and infants during the breastfeeding years, and to ensure families have all the help they need to give babies the best start in life. Contact your local public health unit for more information.
Support is also a click away with Healthy Families BC’s Breastfeeding Buddy web-based app https://www.healthyfamiliesbc.ca/home/articles/breastfeeding-buddy.
This easy, fun and educational resource is designed to provide women and families with quick online access to key information about breastfeeding, support in their communities and answers to common questions.
It also has fun interactive tools to help families keep track of breastfeeding activities, diaper changes and sleep patterns.
Interior Health nurses along with their community partners will be hosting events to mark World Breastfeeding Week. The events aim to raise awareness about the importance of breastfeeding and build support for breastfeeding in communities.