World Breastfeeding Week is observed every year from 1August to 7August.It is celebrated world wide, more than 120 countries participate in the process. Several events take place during the week. It is organized by WHO, WABA and UNICEF. The goal is to promote exclusive breastfeeding for initial 6 months of child so that he/she can get tremendous health benefits.
Breastfeeding helps in providing the child critical nutrients that protects the child from deadly diseases like pneumonia. This week was first celebrated in 1992 by World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action. Suckling at the breast stimulate breast milk production that includes colostrum which is also known as baby’s first vaccine, it is exceptionally rich in antibodies and nutrients.
Its establishment dates back to year 1990 when UNICEF and WHO created Innocenti Declaration. Innocenti Declaration is a formal statement regarding protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding. Its objective was to establish and enforce laws for protecting the breastfeeding rights of working women.
Some of the major initiatives taken by WABA were to support mothers to start and continue to breastfeed. Although breastfeeding is a mother’s domain, it is equally important to educate fathers, co-workers, young people and the community for an enhanced support.
Each respective year, WABA develops a new theme along with slogan for representing World Breastfeeding Week. The theme is for emphasizing and bringing awareness about breastfeeding.
This Year’s World Breastfeeding slogan is “Empower Parents, Enable Breastfeeding”. This slogan has been chosen for all types of parents in the world. It is important for both the parents to be empowered so that they can meet their breastfeeding goals. It is possible through empowerment only to maintain environment where mothers can feed their child optimally. All of the initiatives are possible only if fathers, families, partners, workplaces and the communities support her.
Breastfeeding is a team process and can be achieved only through collective efforts.
