INDIANAPOLIS – Breastfeeding is more than just a lifestyle choice about how to feed babies. It’s an important health decision benefiting babies, mothers and society.The staff at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers is committed to supporting nursing mothers and improving breastfeeding initiation and duration. To celebrate World Breastfeeding Week with “Baby Steps to a Healthier Indiana,” St. Francis will host a day-long event featuring breastfeeding information, resources, and support groups for underserved pregnant and nursing mothers.
From 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 6, Classrooms I and II at St. Francis’ Indianapolis campus (8111 S. Emerson Ave.) will be filled with displays from local community organizations and businesses that promote, support and advocate breastfeeding.
Morning “Mother-to-Mother” circles will discuss postpartum issues, workplace lactation, skin-to-skin attachment parenting, and prematurity with breastfeeding. Afternoon “Ask the Expert” speakers will highlight infant nutrition, Indiana breastfeeding laws, and perinatal mood disorders.
Participating breastfeeding organizations include Ameda, Medela, La Leche League, Indiana Perinatal Network, the Indiana Mother’s Milk Bank, WIC, the Indiana Black Breastfeeding Coalition and Motherlove.
The U.S. Surgeon General's Healthy People 2010 Goal calls for 75 percent of women to breastfeed their infants at hospital discharge, 50 percent at six months of age, and 25 percent to breastfeed at 12 months of age.
This year’s World Breastfeeding Week theme is titled “Just 10 Steps! The Baby-Friendly Way” to support the early days and weeks when mothers and babies take first steps in establishing a breastfeeding relationship. World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated August 1-7.
To register for the event, call 317-865-5620.
For more information about breastfeeding or to talk to a certified lactation consultant, call the St. Francis Lactation Line at 317-865-5620 or visit the World Breastfeeding Week website at http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/.
