Peoria – Join Peoria City/County Health Department in celebrating August as Breastfeeding Promotion Month in Illinois by attending a special community Breastfeeding Support event at Neighborhood House on August 7th from 2:30pm to 5:00pm. Area agencies are planning a fun-filled afternoon for the whole family to raise breastfeeding awareness and to support mothers to choose breastfeeding. The celebration also occurs during the World Breastfeeding Week August 1-7, promoting the theme “Breastfeeding Support: Close to Mothers”.
Curt Fenton, Director of Child and Family Health at Peoria City/County Health Department, states, “This special event will highlight the benefits of breastfeeding and the importance of community support. Mothers need the support of fathers, grandparents, and other friends and family members to be successful. Moms returning to work or school need support of employers and institutions to continue to provide their babies with the benefits of breastfeeding for the first year of life.”
Breastfed babies receive protection against infection, and gain other long-term health benefits. Breastfeeding mothers lose weight more quickly and have a decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancers. Breastfeeding reduces the lifetime risk of obesity for both baby and mom. This results in significant cost savings to families and the health care system. Breastfeeding is the natural way to feed babies and strengthens that special bond between mother and baby.
According to Fenton, “Breastfeeding is a critical issue in our community. Our national goal is to increase breastfeeding to over 80% by 2020; yet last year slightly over half of mothers in Peoria’s Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program tried breastfeeding their infants and only about a third of Peoria’s African American babies on WIC were breastfed. Even when mothers are able to get off to a good start, all too often in the weeks after delivery there is a sharp decline in breastfeeding. In Peoria County, by 6 months of age, when all babies should still be breastfeeding, those numbers drop to about 14%.”
The Peoria City County Health Department’s WIC program will have trained staff at the Neighborhood House community event. WIC staff includes a peer breastfeeding counselor, nurses, and nutritionists, who are Certified Lactation Counselors with specialized training to counsel and support mothers in successfully breastfeeding their infants.
For information about Breastfeeding Promotion Month activities, call the Peoria City/County Health Department WIC Program at 309-679-6535. For other information on Public Health issues visit our website at www.pcchd.org.