World Breastfeeding Week begins on 1 August 2005

Media Release for World Breastfeeding Week

World Breastfeeding Week begins on 1 August 2005. Women’s Health Action is marking the event this year with: The launch of a radical new image as a poster and bill board and an Attempt to set a Guinness World RecordTM in New Zealand for ‘the most mothers breastfeeding simultaneously’.

The record attempt is on Saturday 6 August at 11am, with celebrities Petra Bagust and Theresa Healey breastfeeding their babies as part of the event at LynnMall in Auckland (There are numerous other venues around the country, see www.womens-health.org.nz for details).

Louise James, Breastfeeding Advocate from Women’s Health Action says “We are using a totally new approach to breastfeeding promotion this year centered around an unusual and unconventional breastfeeding image.”

The theme for this years WBW – which was used to develop the poster – is breastfeeding and family foods. The aim is to promote breastmilk firstly as a total food for babies and then as a supplement for healthy first foods for toddlers to two years and beyond.

However, as a society, we are sometimes not comfortable seeing women breastfeeding in public and we are certainly unused to seeing breastfeeding toddlers. The new poster celebrates these aspects of breastfeeding and aims to give a clear message that breastfeeding into toddlerhood produces optimum health and wellbeing for children and mothers.

“A breastfeeding toddler has no need of artificial baby milk or any other milk” says Louise James. The new image of breastfeeding in New Zealand will be available on Thursday 28th of July for publication. To request a copy or for more information please contact:

ENDS

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