New #KawarthaLakes'Baby-Friendly Initiative' Helps Promote Breast is Best Message

New Baby-Friendly Initiative' Helps Promote Breast is Best Message!

A new initiative is underway to boost the number of Kawartha Lakes mothers who breastfeed by making this region a more 'baby-friendly' community. As part of the Baby-Friendly Initiative, many hospitals and community health agencies – including the Health Unit – are working towards earning their 'BFI' designation. What makes a venue breastfeeding-friendly to you?

Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit is working towards this goal by strengthening its own programs and practices to better support breastfeeding. The Health Unit is also promoting the Baby-Friendly Initiative in Halibuton County, Northumberland County and the City of Kawartha Lakes. Developed by the World Health Organization, the Baby-Friendly Initiative is designed to implement practices to promote, protect and support breastfeeding, as well as to ensure new mothers can make an informed decision about feeding their infants. The goal of the Baby Friendly Initiative is also to boost rates of breastfeeding worldwide and enhance the quality of care available to mothers and babies.

"Breastfeeding is important for babies, mothers, their families and the community," says Tammy Thomson, a Family Health Nurse with the HKPR District Health Unit. "The Baby-Friendly Initiative is all about providing parents with the information they need to make the best choice for them about feeding their babies, and then supporting them in their decision."

Breast milk is considered the best food for optimal infant growth. Research shows that breastfed babies have a reduced risk of childhood infections, chronic diseases and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, to name just a few. Breastfeeding is also important for mothers, as it reduces their risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and brittle bones in their later years. In Canada, it is recommended women exclusively breastfeed their infants for the first six months of life, and continue to breastfeed after the introduction of solid foods, for up to two years and beyond.

Approximately 90 per cent of mothers want to breastfeed, according to the Ontario Ministry Health and Long-Term Care. However, only 60 per cent will breastfeed when they leave the hospital after giving birth. By the time a baby is six months old, only 28 per cent of mothers are breastfeeding.

"Supporting parents to breastfeed makes a world of difference," Thomson notes. "That is where the Baby Friendly Initiative can help. It provides a step-by-step guide on how health care providers can increase breastfeeding rates in our area."

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