Following today’s Global Breastfeeding Collective webinar on Achieving Health Equity: Providing Skilled Breastfeeding Support Universally, we are focusing today’s World Breastfeeding Week action on the importance of access to skilled lactation care.

As a part of World Breastfeeding Week, World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) has identified six action areas for creating change. We will share one with you for the next six days. 

Just learning about this year’s World Breastfeeding Week celebrations? Get an overview here. Read the other posts in this series here, here, and here.

Day four action area: Breastfeeding counselling is essential

Breastfeeding counselling is essential for increasing breastfeeding rates. According to the World Health Organization, all counselling can be considered support but not all support interventions involve counselling. Counselling is a process and interaction between counsellors and women/parents and is therefore not intended to be a ‘top-down’ intervention of ‘telling them what to do’. The aim of breastfeeding counselling is to empower women and other lactating parents to breastfeed or chestfeed, while respecting their personal situations and wishes. It may be offered by credentialed professionals, including International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs), lay/peer counsellors, or a combination of both. Breastfeeding counselling includes listening, empathising, building confidence, giving information and suggestions and letting women/parents decide what is best for them. It also includes giving practical help and demonstrating how to position and attach a baby at the breast and manage common problems. When breastfeeding challenges are more complex, such as sick or small newborns, a provider with clinical experience, such as an IBCLC, can provide much needed support.

What you can do*

• Advocate for all women/parents with young children to have access to skilled breastfeeding counselling from health facilities and communities.
• Implement the revised BFHI 2018 guidelines in all health facilities including private hospitals.
• Allocate resources for community groups to be able to provide basic breastfeeding counselling and other forms of support close to women/parents.

* How you can support these efforts depends on your role in the breastfeeding and chestfeeding community. If you are a policy maker, please consider these priorities. If you are not, please call on your local, regional, and national leaders to take action. Or consider becoming a policy leader yourself, by getting involved with your breastfeeding coalition, public health agency, or an elected office – we need your leadership at the highest possible level!

The 2020 World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) theme is Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet. This year’s theme celebrates the impact of infant feeding on the environment/climate change and the imperative to protect, promote and support breastfeeding for the health of the planet and its people. Join International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®) and WABA in observing WBW 1-7 August 2020. 

How can YOU support action steps to support breastfeeding for a healthier planet?

As a part of World Breastfeeding Week, World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) has identified six action areas for creating change. We will share one with you for the next six days. 

Just learning about this year’s World Breastfeeding Week celebrations? Get an overview here. Read the other posts in this series here and here.

Day three action area: Leaving no one behind

Some families may be more vulnerable and require additional breastfeeding support. Vulnerable situations include emergencies, special needs or other medical conditions affecting the breastfeeding dyad. The increase in climate and environment-related disasters are a growing concern as the risks of undernutrition and child mortality are much higher than during normal times. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is another emergency that leaves families with children in an extremely vulnerable position. In every emergency, it is necessary to assess and act to protect and support the nutritional needs and care of both breastfed and nonbreastfed infants and young children. It is vital that national and international evidence-based guidelines are aligned to ensure that consistent messages reach the public.

Donations and non-targeted distributions of BMS can interfere and undermine breastfeeding. Unreliable supply chains of BMS and the unhygienic conditions that commonly prevail in emergency situations make breastfeeding the safest option. In the case of COVID-19, WHO and UNICEF recommend breastfeeding with necessary hygienic precautions. This may be revised as further evidence becomes available. The Operational Guidance on Infant Feeding in Emergencies (OG-IFE) explains the key actions to protect and support optimal IYCF in emergencies.

What you can do*

• Invest in consistent training programmes for different levels of health professionals, lactation consultants, community health workers and lay/peer supporters.
• Advocate for placement of appropriately-trained and skilled staff at various levels: peer supporters, health professionals, lactation consultants and resource persons.
• Promote scaling up of existing breastfeeding training tools and programmes including online, digital and e-learning methods, as well as face-to-face clinical and other practical teaching.
• Engage school children, students, youth and social media influencers to spread awareness of the importance of breastfeeding for planetary health.

* How you can support these efforts depends on your role in the breastfeeding and chestfeeding community. If you are a policy maker, please consider these priorities. If you are not, please call on your local, regional, and national leaders to take action. Or consider becoming a policy leader yourself, by getting involved with your breastfeeding coalition, public health agency, or an elected office – we need your leadership at the highest possible level!

The 2020 World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) theme is Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet. This year’s theme celebrates the impact of infant feeding on the environment/climate change and the imperative to protect, promote and support breastfeeding for the health of the planet and its people. Join International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®) and WABA in observing WBW 1-7 August 2020.

As part of your World Breastfeeding Week celebrations, please join us for Achieving health equity: Providing skilled breastfeeding support universally.

In this webinar sponsored by the Global Breastfeeding Collective, WHO and UNICEF, key global leaders will discuss why investment in skilled breastfeeding support is essential to achieving equitable health outcomes. The audience will hear from funders, implementing organizations and national government level leaders.

As a part of ILCA’s efforts as members of the Global Breastfeeding Collective, Mudiwah Kadeshe, immediate past president, will be speaking and Lisa Mandell, global advocacy adviser, is serving as the chair of the task group organizing this event. We hope that you can join us.

In addition, please share this information with those who can take action to invest in skilled breastfeeding support, including government leaders, health policy makers, and funders.

The webinar will be conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation in French, Spanish, Arabic, and Russian.

Speakers include:

Moderators:

Dr. Victor Aguayo, Associate Director, Programme Division, Chief, Nutrition Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

Dr. Francesco Branca, Director, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, World Health Organization (WHO)

Speakers:

Dr. France Begin, Senior Advisor, Early Childhood Nutrition, UNICEF

Ms. Mudiwah Kadeshe, Immediate Past President, International Lactation Consultant Association

Mrs. Juliana Abdul Razak, breastfeeding mother, Malaysia

Her Excellency Mrs. Samina Alvi, First Lady of Pakistan

Dr. Laurence Grummer-Strawn, Unit Head, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, World Health Organization

Dr. Amy E. Pollack, Director, Maternal, Newborn & Child Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Ms. Helga Fogstad, Executive Director, Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health

Dr. Steve Wall, Senior Director, Newborn Health, Save the Children

Dr. Alma Golden, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Global Health, United States Agency for International Development

Her Excellency Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, First Lady of Ghana

Date: 5 August 2020
Time: 13:00 – 14:30 UTC (9:00 New York, 15:00 Geneva, 16:00 Nairobi, 18:00 Islamabad, 22:00 Tokyo) (Click here to see the time in your location)

Free, pre-registration is required: https://bit.ly/SBSequity

How can YOU support action steps to support breastfeeding for a healthier planet?

As a part of World Breastfeeding Week, World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) has identified six action areas for creating change. We will share one with you for the next six days. 

Just learning about this year’s World Breastfeeding Week celebrations? Get an overview here. Read the other posts in this series here.

Day two action area: Ongoing support across the first 1000 days

Skilled lactation support should be organised, predictable, scheduled and ongoing to be most effective. All women/parents should be offered planned contact sessions during the antenatal and postnatal periods. Contact should be frequent in the early months, with a total of at least six contacts and support continued until the child is two years old.

What you can do*

• Advocate for ongoing antenatal and postnatal skilled lactation support to sustain optimal breastfeeding and chestfeeding.
• Create a warm chain of support for breastfeeding by identifying key actors and their roles in the first 1000 days and linking them to each other.
• Engage fathers/partners and family support to share domestic responsibilities and care for the breastfeeding dyad.
• Join a mother/parent support group and share experiences with others in the community to normalise breastfeeding.
• Develop creative ideas for virtual and online activities to engage target audiences in #WBW2020.

* How you can support these efforts depends on your role in the breastfeeding and chestfeeding community. If you are a policy maker, please consider these priorities. If you are not, please call on your local, regional, and national leaders to take action. Or consider becoming a policy leader yourself, by getting involved with your breastfeeding coalition, public health agency, or an elected office – we need your leadership at the highest possible level!

The 2020 World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) theme is Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet. This year’s theme celebrates the impact of infant feeding on the environment/climate change and the imperative to protect, promote and support breastfeeding for the health of the planet and its people. Join International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®) and WABA in observing WBW 1-7 August 2020. 

How can YOU support action steps to support breastfeeding for a healthier planet?

As a part of World Breastfeeding Week, World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) has identified six action areas for creating change. We will share one with you for the next six days. 

Just learning about this year’s World Breastfeeding Week celebrations? Get an overview here.  

Day one action area:
SDGs as a framework for planetary health

What is an SDG?

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are about people, the planet, prosperity and peace. Breastfeeding is one of many sustainable solutions to planetary health. The SDGs provide a framework for addressing several of the current challenges to planetary health. Ensuring wellbeing includes ending poverty, hunger and malnutrition, promoting good health as well as ensuring the right to decent work, gender equality, inclusiveness and peace.

How do breastfeeding interventions fit in?

An enabling environment for breastfeeding requires an essential package of interventions: maternity/parental protection, training of health professionals and community workers, the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), access to breastfeeding counselling as well as implementation and monitoring of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions.

What you can do*

• Align national and international policies and guidance on breastfeeding and IYCF with the SDG agenda and other environment/climate initiatives.
• Ensure that a public health perspective is taken to strengthen BFHI and breastfeeding counselling among the general population including during emergencies.
• Raise awareness among decision-makers to recognise the contribution of breastfeeding to food security and environmental sustainability.
• Advocate for policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions from the BMS industry.
• Ensure that the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions are fully implemented and monitored.
• Enact paid family leave and workplace breastfeeding policies based on the International Labour Organization (ILO) Maternity Protection Convention C183 as the minimum standard.

* How you can support these efforts depends on your role in the breastfeeding and chestfeeding community. If you are a policy maker, please consider these priorities. If you are not, please call on your local, regional, and national leaders to take action. Or consider becoming a policy leader yourself, by getting involved with your breastfeeding coalition, public health agency, or an elected office – we need your leadership at the highest possible level!

The 2020 World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) theme is Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet. This year’s theme celebrates the impact of infant feeding on the environment/climate change and the imperative to protect, promote and support breastfeeding for the health of the planet and its people. Join International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®) and WABA in observing WBW 1-7 August 2020. 

Happy World Breastfeeding Week! #WBW2020

Happy World Breastfeeding Week! International Lactation Consultant Association^® (ILCA^®) is excited to join World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) and other organizations and individuals the world over in celebrating #WBW2020. The theme of World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) 2020 is Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet! Lactation Matters will feature blog posts and resources throughout the week of 1-7 August to help you make the most of this important week.

Are you ready to celebrate #WBW2020? Check out this must-do list to be sure:

Visit the #WBW2020 website for general information and downloadable promotional materials, including Objectives, Logo, Poster, Action Folder, Relevant Resources, and other forms of multimedia. These materials are available in many languages and contain information on the theme, relevant facts and figures, case studies, and suggested ways to take action.

Share your commitment to breastfeeding advocacy and education. The links between breastfeeding and good nutrition, food security, and poverty reduction may be obvious to breastfeeding advocates, but there is still work to be done to make these connections clear to others. Thinking of organizing your own WBW event? Then Pledge and report your event to be placed on the Pledge Map and receive an e-certificate for each event you organize. Join the online social media movement by participating in WABA interaction, polls, and activities through their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

Look for information and action steps throughout WBW at Lactation Matters, where you’ll find articles, images, action steps, and more to help with your successful WBW 2020 observance.

For the most up-to-date information about WBW 2020 and to download promotional materials, please visit the World Breastfeeding Week website by clicking here.

Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet. Although this theme was created before the first news reports of COVID, equitable access to human milk is now more important than ever. 

1 August marks the first day of World Breastfeeding Week, sponsored by ILCA partner World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). Celebrated for seven days through 7 August, check back at Lactation Matters for action steps you can take around key strategies, including universal access to lactation support and building knowledge at all levels.

Share your celebration, learn more, and find the action kit all here on the World Breastfeeding Week website.

Breastfeeding and planetary health

The concept of planetary health has been defined as ‘the health of human civilisation and the state of the natural systems on which it depends’. The interconnected nature of people and the planet requires that we find sustainable solutions that benefit both.

Sustainable development meets the needs of the current generation without compromising future generations. Breastfeeding is key to all of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Food and feeding matter

Climate change and environmental degradation are some of the most urgent challenges facing our world today. Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) – carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane and others due to human activity – have increased global temperatures by over 1℃ since pre-industrial times. Interestingly, GHG emissions appear to have dropped due to the impact of our responses to another urgent challenge, the more immediate COVID-19 pandemic. Several lessons can be learned from that and applied to the challenge of climate change. Environmental degradation resulting from pollutants in the air, water or food supply, the over-utilisation of scarce resources, excessive waste and the destruction of habitats is often caused by human activity. Our food production systems and consumption patterns are significant contributors to climate change and environmental degradation. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that we are all affected and an immediate coordinated societal response is required. We can all do something to reduce our carbon footprint (CFP) and ecological footprint starting with how we feed our babies. Ongoing health emergencies such as COVID-19 also pose challenges that affect infant feeding.

Investing in support for breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is one of the best investments for saving infant lives and improving the health, social and economic development of individuals and nations. Creating an enabling environment for optimal infant and young child feeding patterns is a societal imperative.

So, what is needed to create an enabling environment and improve breastfeeding practices? Protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding are all important strategies at structural, settings and individual levels (see diagram below). Coordinated actions for optimal infant feeding during normal times and in emergencies are essential to ensure that the nutritional needs of all babies are met.

Supporting breastfeeding has short- and long-term impact on planetary health. It is an urgent imperative and we must intensify the conversations, call for more robust research and engage all relevant sectors to take action. There is an ongoing need to advocate for breastfeeding as a public health intervention that saves lives and prevents infections and illnesses in the population at large. It is our duty as global citizens to act.

#WBW2020 matters now more than ever!

You’ve just seen a new breastfeeding family for their first visit. You analyzed the situation and gave research-driven advice. You left them with a care plan you feel good about and a schedule for following up. You covered all your bases. 

Or did you? 

Did you happen to ask what the infant feeding history is in the family, going back one or more generations? 

A study by Alexis Woods-Barr, presenter at the upcoming International Lactation Consultant Association National Conference, suggests that understanding a family’s infant feeding history is a critical piece of the puzzle. And failing to understand that dynamic can seriously undermine the effectiveness of your help.

At a time when listening to voices of Black families and communities is being increasingly recognized, Woods-Barr’s research feels especially critical. Particularly in Black families, which are the focus of her research, knowing the multi-generational picture for each family is critical, Woods-Barr says. 

“You can say to a mother, ‘Breast is best,’” she explains. “And that may not matter at all, if she is hearing another message from her mother or grandmother or aunt. The older generations are respected, whether they are giving out the latest information or not. What grandma says gets listened to, and she is in close, constant contact with the mom.”

A recent PhD graduate from the University of South Florida, Woods-Barr recently worked with 15 Black families in the United States across two or three generations in a study that explored infant feeding stories, messages, and experiences shared between generations. 

Woods-Barr will discuss her research during a plenary talk at the #ILCA2020 Virtual Conference. She will focus on the infant feeding conversations revealed in her study. “I wanted to know, what Black families were talking about as it relates to feeding babies? ” Woods-Barr explains.

Intergenerational messages about infant feeding start in adolescence or even early childhood, and have a huge impact on beliefs and behaviors–usually without the older generation even realizing they are transmitting messages, Woods-Barr says. And it’s not just the messages given to girls that matter. “What are grandfathers and dads saying to their boys?” she asks. “What are moms saying to their sons, and what are dads saying to their daughters? The entire big picture–the whole family dynamic–matters when it comes to infant feeding.” 

We are all being called on now to ask, listen, and act in deeper and more thoughtful ways, whether with patients from backgrounds similar or different to our own. IBCLCs who attend the conference will leave Woods-Barr’s presentations with new understanding and tools they can apply immediately to their practices. 

“My goal is to help those who work with lactating families understand that there is a role that each generation plays, and that they can leverage the wisdom and knowledge of the older generations,” she explains. “I’m hoping the take-away is that it’s really important to get the mother’s mother, or aunt, or whoever is important in her life on board. Invite the older generation into appointments, see where she stands on the idea of breastfeeding.

“If you don’t know where the family stands, it’s going to be very hard to be effective. The family history of infant feeding determines what advice the older generation gives the younger generation, the reservations that are presented, and the affirmations that are given.” 

The good news, according to Woods-Barr, is that when the older generation is invited into the conversation, and their experience and wisdom is acknowledged and respected, they are almost always willing to hear out ideas that are different from theirs. “The beauty of it was that the older generations were open to learning new things,” she says. “That’s something you can pretty much bank on. But you have to teach them. They don’t know what they don’t know.” 

Woods-Barr believes her research is broadly applicable, inside and outside the United States where it occurred. “From my experience, in other cultures, respecting elders is supreme,” she says. “I believe what I learned can help in many contexts.” 

As both #ILCA2020 and the ILCA Annual General Meeting (AGM) goes all-virtual this year for everyone’s safety, we are thinking creatively about how to honor and celebrate our members and attendees in new ways! As an international organization, we have traditionally opened our conference with a Parade of Flags, where attendees from all over the world represent their countries.

This year we hope to see a record number of attendees from around the globe, and want to celebrate accordingly with a virtual Parade of Flags! 

If you are a member or an attendee at #ILCA2020, we invite you to submit a picture or very short video of yourself with your country’s flag. The flag you pose with may be made of fabric, printed out or drawn on paper, or even a digital background!

We asked some of our board members to share videos of their flags to inspire your photo or video:

Please submit your photo or video here by 24 July 20 (deadline extended).

We will compile the images into a Parade of Flags that will be shared during both the AGM and at #ILCA2020. (Not yet registered for the virtual conference? Click here to sign up today.

This year is a time of crisis and change worldwide: both the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing human rights uprisings across the globe have highlighted the gaps and failings in our current systems. Babies and families have always needed us. Now more than ever, we are called on to learn and grow so we may best support their needs. #ILCA2020 is going all-virtual to provide vital information and support, wherever you may be. We invite you to join us at #ILCA2020.  

Our speakers are addressing urgent questions including:

• Health disparities
• Clinical skills
• Emergency planning
• Ethical issues
• Access to care

Who are you most excited to hear at #ILCA2020?

Check out the full schedule and then leave a comment here on the blog telling us which speaker or topic YOU are most excited by at the #ILCA2020 Virtual Conference.

We will pick one person to receive a FREE #ILCA2020 Virtual Conference registration!

Bonus entry if you also leave your comment in this thread on Facebook or this thread on Instagram. 

Our winner will be chosen on 16 July 2020.

Early Bird discount ends 17 July 2020!

Get details on our equity pricing HERE.