World Breastfeeding Week

Code Watch: 25 Years of Protecting Breastfeeding

August 1-7 is designated each year as World Breastfeeding Week by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). Several places celebrate breastfeeding the entire month of August while in other countries World Breastfeeding Week is held during the month of October.

National Breastfeeding Awareness Week is an annual health campaign coordinated by the US Department of Health to promote the benefits of breastfeeding and encourage more mums to give it a go.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health (OWH) was funded to carry out the recommendations of the HHS Blueprint for Action on Breastfeeding, (2000) (PDF file, 239 Kb) into a National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign to promote breastfeeding among first-time parents (mothers and fathers) who would not normally breastfeed their baby. The overall goal of the campaign was to increase the proportion of mothers who breastfeed their babies in the early postpartum period to 75% and those within 6 months postpartum to 50% by the year 2010 (Healthy People 2010). The campaign aimed to empower women to commit to breastfeeding and to highlight new research that shows that babies who are exclusively breastfed for 6 months are less likely to develop ear infections, diarrhea, respiratory illnesses, and may be less likely to develop childhood obesity. Besides trying to raise initiation rates, the campaign stressed the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.

The theme for 2006 is "Code Watch: 25 Years of Protecting Breastfeeding." This year's theme provides an opportunity to celebrate the progress that has been made worldwide over the last several decades to protect and promote breastfeeding. It also serves to remind us that we each play a part in creating a positive environment in which mothers receive the support they need to breastfeed. For more information on WABA, visit www.waba.org.my.