About | 2024 Calendar

World Breastfeeding Week | National Breastfeeding Month | National WIC Breastfeeding Week | Indigenous Milk Medicine Week | Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week | Black Breastfeeding Week | Workplace Lactation Week | Latina/x Breastfeeding Week

While we celebrate breastfeeding this August, we hold space for ALL infant feeding journeys. We need to do everything we can to support infant nutrition and food security, including ensuring access to lactation support, supplies, and accommodations, donor milk, and access to infant formula.

Messaging

General

• August is National Breastfeeding Month, and this year’s theme is Nourish, Survive, Thrive. Learn how you can join the celebration of the incredible work that organizations are doing to make the world a little more friendly for new parents and families at https://www.usbreastfeeding.org/national-breastfeeding-month.html.
• Breastfeeding, initiated within the first hour of birth, provided exclusively for six months, and continued up to two years or beyond with the provision of safe and appropriate complementary foods, is one of the most powerful practices for promoting child survival and wellbeing.
• From the day a baby is born, breastfeeding gives them the very best start to life—and the benefits reach far into the future. The nutrition baby gets from mom through her diet in pregnancy and while breastfeeding is the fuel that drives much of the brain’s early incredible transformation and can have lasting effects throughout life.
• 👶🏽 For babies: breastmilk helps build a strong immune system and protects against illness and disease, now and in the future.
• 🤱🏽 For moms: studies show that some cancers, including ovarian and breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure are less common among women who breastfeed. Globally, optimal breastfeeding would save nearly 100,000 women each year. Breastfeeding is a win-win for moms and babies!

Building a supportive culture

• Breastfeeding is a full-time job in and of itself: a year of breastfeeding equates to a conservative estimate of 1,800 hours in a year. Compare that to a 40-hour work week role at 1,960 hours a year!
• Breastfeeding is not a one-person job. It requires encouragement and support from skilled counsellors, family members, health care providers, employers, policymakers and others.
• Access to paid leave is a critical support: establishing and maintaining exclusive breastfeeding requires that all nursing parents have access to at least 18 weeks, and preferably 6 months or more, of paid parental leave.
• Today in the United States, workers are not guaranteed a single paid day off by federal law, and many aren’t even entitled to unpaid time off. America is one of only six countries in the world — and the only high-income country — without any form of national paid leave.
• Did you know: only one-quarter of all U.S. workers have access to paid family leave from their employer?
• Did you know: the US is a global outlier on paid maternity leave? The US is one of only six countries that offer no federal compensation guarantees for maternity leave. The average length for all other countries is 29 weeks.
• On average, new mothers and birthing people in the United States take 10 weeks of leave. Of that, approximately 20 days are covered through paid sick or personal time, with the rest unpaid.
• The majority of American families are forced to cut short their recovery, transition, and bonding time, all of which is crucial to establishing breastfeeding and supporting child and maternal health. Having scarce or no paid leave contributes to serious health burdens, including delaying babies' immunizations, giving up breastfeeding early, and an increase in postpartum depression rates.
• Access to paid leave is particularly crucial for women, who comprise nearly half of the nation’s workforce and who are often the primary caretaker for children and aging parents.
• Access to paid leave is a feminist issue: women are much less likely to have access to leave that is either partially or fully paid than men, and millions of women who only have unpaid leave go into debt or seek public assistance to manage their commitments.
• The Family and Medical Leave Act protects your job while you recover from birth and care for a new child, but it is unpaid and excludes millions of workers.
• While there’s no federal paid leave policy, there’s a growing number of states that offer paid family and medical leave laws: thirteen states and Washington, D.C. now offer partial wage replacement to workers in businesses of all sizes.
• Although breastfeeding rates in the United States have increased over the past decade, racial disparities persist in each stage of breastfeeding, due to historical, cultural, social, economic, political, and psychosocial factors.
• About three-quarters (75%) of Black infants are ever breastfed, well below the national average of 83%. Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic/Latino, and multiracial adults are also less likely to breastfeed for 6 months than the national average.
• Black infants have lower rates of breastfeeding at six months, with only 28% breastfeeding compared to nearly 62% of White babies.
• Lower breastfeeding rates are associated with higher rates of infections like acute otitis media gastrointestinal infection among Hispanic and Black populations.

Legal protections

• The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) went into effect last June and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees before, during, and after pregnancy. Find out more: https://hbr.org/2024/05/the-pregnant-workers-fairness-act-what-u-s-employers-need-to-know.
• The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act’s passage is one of the biggest advances in civil rights law in decades. Find out more: https://msmagazine.com/2024/06/25/pregnant-workers-rights-women/.
• The PUMP Act of 2022 almost entirely closes the coverage gap that left 1 in 4 American people of childbearing age without federal protection of their right to break time and a private space to pump during the workday. It expands the legal right to receive pumping breaks and private space to nearly 9 million more workers, including teachers, registered nurses, farmworkers, and many others. Learn more: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/nursing-mothers/faq.
• Starting this month, pregnant and parenting students have more robust protections under Title IX, include things like a clean, private lactation space and breaks during class to pump milk at school, access to online education, extensions on coursework, and the rescheduling of exams—and much more! Find out more: https://thepregnantscholar.org/titleix-updates-toolkit/.

Events

• AUG 2, online: 4th Annual WIC-NIC (more info)
• AUG 10, NYC: Breastfeeding Awareness Day In the Empire State (more info)
• AUG 16, NYC: Breastfeeding @ The Ball Park (more info)

Key events:

Get ready for the inaugural Indigenous Milk Medicine Conference 2024! Join virtually during Indigenous Milk Medicine Week from August 8-14 for a week of education, celebration, and wellness focused on this year’s theme, “Mind, Body, Milk Medicine.” Key speakers, workshops, ceremonies, a virtual 5K, T-shirt fundraiser, and more await you during this transformative event. Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to learn from Indigenous experts in lactation and wellness.

Check out the Daily Sunrise Ceremony offerings via Facebook and Instagram!

Key events

AUG 16: Lactation Community Forum: Bridging the Gaps for AANHPI Families: Join a virtual community forum! Current and up-and-coming AANHPI lactation professional community members will share about their journey to becoming lactation professionals. It will be a casual discussion with an opportunity to engage the audience in how we as a community can bridge the gap in lactation resources for our AANHPI communities.

Key events

• AUG 17, San Diego, CA: Black Breastfeeding Week Celebration (more info)
• AUG 21, online: Sweet Milk & Oats Overnight Oats: Breastfeeding 101 (more info)
• AUG 24, Albany, NY: Black Breast-feeding Week 2024 (more info)
• AUG 26, online: Virtual Workshop: Village Wisdom: Building Community Support for Black Breastfeeding Moms (more info)
• AUG 26, online: Sweet Milk & Oats Instagram LIVE (more info)
• AUG 28, Philadelphia, PA: Exclusive screening of the documentary 'Chocolate Milk' (more info)
• AUG 28, Pawtucket, RI: Lactation Celebration: Black Breastfeeding Week 2024 (more info)
• AUG 31: Chicago, IL: Latch & Stroll: Black Breastfeeding Week 2024 (more info)

Key events

Do you know of a workplace that needs a little love and attention? Nominate them for the Healthy Horizons 7th Annual Lactation Room Contest. A deserving organization will receive lactation equipment, furniture, services, and supplies from Healthy Horizons and our partners. This year there will be 3 prizes for workplaces and lactating parents with a combined value of $20,000! The contest is open through the end of Workplace Lactation Week, September 7, 2024. Parents, employers and advocates are welcome to nominate!

Free Back to Work Lactation & Pumping Class

SEP 6: Join a free virtual class to equip yourself with the knowledge and confidence to successfully pump and return to work. Learn pumping basics, milk storage and handling techniques, tips for creating a comfortable pumping space at work, and how to maintain your milk supply. A lactation consultant will be available to answer your questions. Celebrate Workplace Lactation Week by gaining the knowledge and confidence to successfully continue your lactation journey on Friday, September 6, 2024 at 10am PST / 1pm EST. Register today as space is limited!

Key events

TBC