World Breastfeeding Week, August 1–7

Local North Carolina organizations are joining the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in celebrating World Breastfeeding Week, August 1-7. According to the WHO website, “World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year in more than 170 countries to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. It commemorates the Innocenti Declaration signed in August 1990 by government policymakers, WHO, UNICEF and other organizations to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is the best way to provide infants with the nutrients they need. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding starting within one hour after birth until a baby is six months old. Nutritious complementary foods should then be added while continuing to breastfeed for up to two years or beyond.”

Here are some local World Breastfeeding Week events:

The Big Latch On is a community-building event held every August to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week and to promote and support breastfeeding women. Groups of breastfeeding women come together at registered locations around the world to all ‘latch on’ (breastfeed) their child or children at a set time. All of the children are latched on for one minute at the set time and are counted by witnesses. Numbers are added to a global total to see if they can beat the previous year’s Big Latch On record. For more information, visit the event website.

Saturday, Aug. 2, 10:30 a.m., The Big Latch On at Sweetbottoms Baby Boutique, 2845 Jones Franklin Road, Raleigh; 919-438-1722. Sweetbottoms and Nursing Mother’s of Raleigh invite you to join them. Registration will begin at 10:00. Be sure to arrive early to be ready for the latch time of 10:30.

Saturday Aug. 2, 9 a.m. to noon, The Big Latch On at James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital, 2100 Stantonsburg Road, Greenville; 252-847-4100.

Sunday Aug. 3, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., “Breastmilk: The Movie”. Tickets are $12 and support the Women’s Birth & Wellness Center of Chapel Hill. Purchase tickets in advance here.