by CUPHD
Are you a breastfeeding mom? Check out these fun events at the Champaign Urbana Public Health Department in conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week. Morguefile photo
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) will be hosting the 1st Annual Working Moms Breastfeeding Expo in conjunction with The Big Latch On August 2-4, 2012 at CUPHD, 201 W. Kenyon Road in Champaign. This event is to increase awareness for community mothers on the breastfeeding support services available to them throughout the community. All events are free and open to the public.
The 1st Annual Working Moms Breastfeeding Expo is August 2 from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. at CUPHD. Information will be available about pregnancy, postpartum and breastfeeding support services throughout the community, Illinois breastfeeding laws, breastfeeding-friendly businesses, employers and daycares and what you need to know to about successfully breastfeeding while working outside of the home. Free samples and raffles, including a double electric Medela breast pump, will be offered. Children are welcome; crafts and face painting activities will be available. This expo is also open to all pregnant women and new moms interested in breastfeeding information and resources.
The Big Latch On will be Aug. 3 and 4 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. It is a fun way to meet other breastfeeding moms and be a part of an event that gets recorded every year in the Guinness Book of World Records. Participants will sign up upon arrival and at 10:30 AM everyone participating in The Big Latch On throughout the U.S. will latch their nursing babies at the same time for two minutes. The goal is to increase the number of participants each year. Snacks and beverages will be provided.
Linda Steinberg, Peer Counselor at CUPHD, said “We want to help community mothers reach their individual breastfeeding goals by empowering them with information and support.”
According to the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the most highly effective preventive measures a mother can take to protect the health of her infant is to breastfeed; however, in the United States, although most mothers hope to breastfeed, and 75 percent of babies start out being breastfed, only 15 percent are exclusively breastfed six months later.
For more information about CUPHD’s programs and services, visit us on the web at www.c-uphd.org. Follow CUPHD on Facebook and Twitter .
