August is all about breastfeeding! Normally, when we think of August we are reminded of back-to-school shopping and planning that last vacation before fall sets in, but did you know that both World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Awareness Month are in August? In this past month, breastfeeding parents have been celebrated for their breastfeeding journey and many have worked tirelessly to normalize breastfeeding in public. As with most aspects of parenthood, breastfeeding is a hard (and sometimes thankless) job - so we celebrate this month as a way to show these parents some appreciation!
So much has happened in the breastfeeding world this month, from exciting event, The Big Latch On to Lansinoh’s wonderful breastfeeding photography collection, so here at littlebeam we've decided to highlight some of our favorite breastfeeding moments that made us smile and we hope it brightens your day as much as ours!
First things first, we have to talk about Lansinoh kicking off World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month with a bang by publishing the ‘Breastfeeding Around the World’ photography collection. On August 1, they released a collection of breastfeeding photographs taken from different parts of the world. One of the things we all have in common is that breastfeeding has affected our societies and cultures in one way or another, and these photos pleasantly remind us of that commonality.
Next up we had The Big Latch On event! To briefly explain, The Big Latch On is an international, synchronized event where breastfeeding parents meet and share their breastfeeding experience together with the overall goal of normalizing breastfeeding in public. Events are held in different communities to help support these parents and give them a day to take pride in feeding their children. According to The Global Big Latch On website, around 21,000 children were breastfed during a one-minute count (now that’s a lot of babies)! The Global Big Latch On only had about 2,045 children breastfeeding during their one-minute count in 2010 and in eight years they were able increase that by over ten times! If that isn’t impressive then I don’t know what is!
Speaking of The Global Big Latch, there was a record broken that we think you’d be very impressed by. In Wilmington, North Carolina a group of 94 breastfeeding parents celebrated World Breastfeeding Week by beating their local record of number of people breastfeeding simultaneously in one location. The previous record from the last Global Latch On was 76 parents, so naturally these amazing people decided to crush that record! Breastfeeding is no small feat and having 94 parents physically in one spot and supporting one-another on that day put a huge smile on our faces!
One last thing we want to highlight about this month was the police officer in Argentina that comforted a malnourished child by breastfeeding him. According to CNN, the baby was brought into the hospital crying and in desperate need of nutrients when Officer Celeste Jaqueline Ayala saw him. She had recently just become a mother, so we can only imagine how heartbreaking it would have been for her to see a child in such need. Without hesitation, Officer Ayala held, breastfed, and comforted the little one. We all should trust our police to protect us, but this officer went above and beyond her responsibilities to ensure the safety and comfort of a child. We love it! It was a lovely thing to witness toward the end of National Breastfeeding Month and showed us that a little compassion can go a long way.
Wow, what a month! How was your August? Did you celebrate World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month? We’d love to hear how you celebrated on our Facebook and Instagram!
