World Breastfeeding Week 2020: Day 1
Well, we’ve been in quarantine long enough that we made it to Breastfeeding Awareness Month! I’m sharing some of my social media posts for World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) and if you’re lucky (you are) some other stuff too. My WBW blog posts will explore my social media posts slightly more in depth and with more references.
Every year the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) celebrates, supports and empowers human milk feeders around the world. They have linked breastfeeding to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. WABA’s homepage describes how breastfeeding is connected to all 17 of the SDGs.
This year WBW is focused on a healthy planet and sustainability. Every ounce of human milk helps protect and preserve Earth in a variety of ways (more on this on WBW Day 2).
WBW Day 1 is short and sweet: Our bodies have been sustainably making baby food for a couple million years...we're really good at it!
You can’t get a more perfect food for a human baby. Cows make the perfect milk for cows. Goats make the perfect milk for goats. Dolphins make the perfect milk for dolphins. And humans….we do a kickass job of making milk for our babies.
It comes ready to go with the right nutrients, prepared at the right temperature, in perfect packaging, and, after an adjustment period, the right amount.
And what about those antibodies?! They’re killers! Literally. The antibodies in breastmilk keep our babies’ immune system functioning optimally. They protect them from acute illness such as the common cold and ear infections but also from chronic conditions like asthma, allergies, and obesity.
It’s gets better. Milk making is good for Milk Makers, too. Not breastfeeding increases a parent’s risk of postpartum hemorrhage, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
Breastfeeding is optimal for the parent and baby! Perfect.