We will be celebrating World Breastfeeding Week August 1 through 7. The week is an opportunity to showcase the benefits of breastfeeding, and what international support looks like for pregnant and breastfeeding women all over the world from various organizations and community groups.
We will be hosting an event called LATCH-AZ, which will offer breastfeeding education to more than 300 community partners. These events will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on August 4 in Tucson and August 5 in Mesa. The events will also be streamed live to areas of rural Arizona.
Working in partnership with the Healthy Arizona Worksites Program, more than 100 businesses received a toolkit “Making it Work: Creating a Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace” this year. We provide breastfeeding training to WIC staff, home visitors from the Strong Families AZ, Empower child care providers, as well as to nurses and lactation consultants throughout the state. The Arizona WIC Program supports breastfeeding mothers through breastfeeding education and, 24/7, mothers can call our 24-Hour Breastfeeding Hotline at 1-800-833-4642 with their breastfeeding questions.
August is also National Breastfeeding Month, which is a celebration sponsored by the United States Breastfeeding Committee. This year’s theme is a reflection on the five years since the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding was originally released in 2011. Our community partners can find resources—such as infographics and social media kits—to help promote breastfeeding from the United States Department of Agriculture, the National WIC Association.
