Why Every Mom Deserves to be a Breastfeeding Champion

Breastfeeding has advantages for mothers and babies, but it’s not always easy. The entire community can provide support and encouragement to get more mothers to breastfeed. More mothers, fathers, friends, and families should be breastfeeding champions and advocates.

Why does breastfeeding matter?

Human milk is recognized as the best form of nutrition for infants. You can find a complete list of breastfeeding benefits for babies, moms, families, employers, and society here. Some quick benefits that the Delaware Breastfeeding Coalition emphasize are:

• Benefits for Mom: less likely she will have breast or ovarian cancer, her uterus will return to normal size more quickly, and less postpartum bleeding
• Benefits for Baby: less likely to get sick, less risk of obesity, less likely to suffer from SIDS, less risk of type I and II Diabetes, decreased risk of asthma, and more

What is a Breastfeeding Champion?

Sahira Long is an advocate of breastfeeding, mother, and president of the Washington D.C. breastfeeding coalition, a close neighbor to Delaware.

A breastfeeding champion can be anyone who promotes breastfeeding to all women as an important part of raising children to become healthy. These people know that breastfeeding rates should be increased whenever possible. Sahira asks what can be done to increase breastfeeding rates in the African American community. The discussion can be found here.

Where can I find help?

There are many resources and people willing to help women during pregnancy, through breastfeeding, and motherhood. Here are a few programs that can help answer your breastfeeding questions and other concerns:

• Ask a Nurse – Find answers you can trust with Healthy Mom and Baby’s ask our nurses tool,
• Help Me Grow – Dial 2-1-1 to get expert advice on a range of topics, including child development and growth.
• Home Visiting – Get in home support from pregnancy to your baby’s birth with Home Visiting. The home visitor can help you with breastfeeding in the comfort of your own home.

Sometimes support from friends and other mothers is all women need to gain the confidence to breastfeed. Motherhood can become easier to understand if women talk to other moms and experts. Breastfeeding groups are a great support system. You can look one up breastfeeding support groups, classes, and resources here.

Follow us on Twitter for mommy tips and health advice. You can also join the Delaware parenting community on Facebook to get daily updates.