08-06-07 National Breastfeeding Awareness Week

Dr. Hudson, Health Commissioner and Stephanie Sosnowski, Pre-natal Program Manager for Maternal Infant Services Network are pictured with County Execuitve Diana.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, August 7, 2007, as part of National Breastfeeding Awareness Week, communities in many states are participating in a Breastfeeding Walk at mid-day, to highlight the benefit of breastfeeding.

The Breastfeeding Walk in Orange County will start at the Courtyard of the County Government building after a short news briefing at 12:00 PM by County Executive Diana.  County Executive Diana will be joined by Dr. Jean Hudson, Commissioner of Health and members of the Maternal Infant Services Network. The Walk is open to the public.

County Executive, Edward A. Diana, points out that breastfeeding benefits both mother and child.  Human milk contains a balance of nutrients that most closely matches requirements for growth and development.  In addition, it contains many factors that are active against infection. These include a variety of antibodies and other immunologic agents produced by the mother which help protect the infant from viruses and bacteria while their immune system is maturing.  Benefits for mom include convenience – no need to shop for formula, a ready supply of milk at the right temperature – and the use of extra calories making it easier to shed pregnancy pounds.

Nationally, the target is for 75% of women to start breastfeeding and 50% to be feeding after 6 months by the year 2010.  “Even though a large number of women start out breastfeeding, the reality is, after 6 months only about 30 % are still actively breastfeeding their baby,” says Dr. Jean Hudson, Orange County Commissioner of Health.

There are, of course, a few circumstances when a woman should not breastfeed.  These include those who are HIV infected and those others on certain medications which can be transmitted via breast milk; this needs to be discussed with your health care provider. Nursing mothers should not smoke as nicotine can also be found in breast milk.

Breastfeeding is a normal and natural activity, so while we should be grateful that modern formulas meet nutritional needs, mothers need our support when choosing to breast feed.

For more information, call the Orange County Department of Health at (845) 291-2332.