Five hungry babes and their moms gathered at the Flin Flon Public Library last Saturday to participate in the World Breastfeeding Challenge.
In this annual event, moms all over the world gather for a “latch-on,” where they breastfeed their babies together.
“The goal is to make breastfeeding more visible in the community,” said Ruth Unrau, one of the organizers and a member of Flin Flon’s Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) Committee.
Unrau added that the committee hopes to “make it more of a norm to see breastfeeding moms in public.”
The BFI Committee hosted the Flin Flon event as part of World Breastfeeding Week (Oct. 1 to 7).
According to the World Health Organization, “Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond.”
One of the committee’s goals is to support moms in breastfeeding past that date. With this in mind, the BFI committee runs a Facebook group where parents can connect and share information.
It also distributes breastfeeding-friendly signs to businesses and organizations and hosts a monthly Breastfeeding Café-Breastfeeding Friends group at Ruth Betts Community School.
The central focus of the committee is to have an official Baby-Friendly accredited health facility in Flin Flon, Unrau explains.
The Baby-Friendly designation is based on established best practices around breastfeeding and maternal and infant health.
The Pas Primary Health Care Centre recently became the second facility in Manitoba to receive this designation.
“We are hoping the Flin Flon Primary Health Care Centre will be next,” says Unrau.
In order to achieve this designation, a facility must meet 10 standards, such as having a written breastfeeding policy, assisting mothers to breastfeed and maintain lactation should they face challenges, and providing a seamless transition between the services provided by the hospital, community health services and peer support programs.
