Many consider it the best way to help a child thrive.
That’s one of the reasons close to 20 area women ventured with their children to Couchiching Beach Park Saturday.
The annual Orillia Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge is part of a global effort to raise awareness of and support towards breastfeeding as women around the globe have their children latch on at 11 a.m. (local time) to try to establish a world record.
“This is a worldwide initiative,” Orillia Midwives administrator Sarah Maharaj said, noting the number of women breastfeeding in the area seems to be on the upswing.
“We have a large breastfeeding community here. The support and awareness is the biggest thing about this event.”
In 2001, the Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge started in British Columbia with 856 babies and their mothers at 26 sites. Within a decade it had grown to 4,466 children in 16 countries with numbers continuing to increase annually.
Maharaj said her group tries to help parents reach their goals when it comes to breastfeeding, whether they want to try to breastfeed for two weeks or five years.
Emily Morris arrived at the park with her newborn, Maeve, to participate in the challenge.
“This is my first child and I want to give her the most biologically approved food available for a baby,” she said. “It’s free, convenient and also helps with bonding.”
While Maharaj strongly emphasized her group doesn’t judge women who breastfeed versus those who rely on formula to feed their babies, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit says exclusive breastfeeding for at least six months is known to improve a person’s chances for good health over a lifetime.
The weekend event also coincides with National Breastfeeding Week, an initiative held in early October to raise awareness of and support for breastfeeding from family, community members, organizations, businesses and workplaces.
The theme ‘Empower Parents, Enable Breastfeeding’ was chosen to focus on breastfeeding as a team effort. A flag raising is planned near the Orillia Opera House Monday to celebrate the special week.
“A culture of support, empowerment and enablement is fundamental to supporting breastfeeding families in our community,” the health unit noted in a release.
“Professional support for breastfeeding relies on evidence to show where strengths and weaknesses and what types of activity work best to allow parents to reach the recommended six months of exclusive breastfeeding for their babies.”
Morris, who’s also a midwife, said there’s a great deal of support available to women from not just the health unit, but also through organizations like La Leche League Canada’s Orillia chapter, which offers mothers peer-to-peer support and camaraderie through regular meetings.
“It can be hard for some women in the beginning,” Morris said, noting not all babies readily take to breastfeeding, which can sometimes be frustrating for new mothers.
“Even when it’s working, there are challenges. But there’s a lot of support available.”
Locally, health unit studies have shown an interesting relationship between mothers who breastfed in public and the length of time they continued to breastfeed.
According to the health unit, support for breastfeeding in public places has risen steadily in recent years, which helps make women feel more comfortable nursing in public and, thereby, increases the chances a woman will breastfeed longer.
Visit smdhu.org/breastfeeding for a map of locations of breastfeeding services.
