Breastfeed Orange NC reached out to our Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board candidates for their insights on how our school district can support breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding families. We believe that creating a supportive environment for lactating families and employees in our schools is vital for the health and well-being of our children, families, and community.
Honoria Middough
Candidate for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education
Below are Honoria’s responses to our four questions about ways to create a more breastfeeding-friendly school district.
Written Statement of Support
Do you support a written statement from the school board that actively supports breastfeeding and is routinely communicated to all stakeholders, including staff, parents, and students?
I fully encourage having a written statement from the CHCCS [Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools] school board which actively supports breastfeeding and promotes awareness within the school as well as the surrounding community, regarding this as a natural action that can often be a part of one’s parental role.
Welcoming Atmosphere
How do you propose that our schools create and maintain a welcoming atmosphere for nursing families?
Schools should include information in visible spaces, frequently travelled by both in-school personnel, students, and visitors alike (i.e., school office, wellness center, library/media centers, guidance office, etc.). If someone can easily spot a proclamation or other information, they’ll automatically feel more welcome to ask where in the school building, they might be able to go to pump or nurse their child.
Returning to Work
Support after returning to work is crucial for continued breastfeeding. Will you actively promote employment support for lactating employees in your role on the school board?
I will actively promote employment support for lactating employees in my role as a school board member because each year, for the past 12 years, in my role as a high school educator, some of these employees have been my colleagues. It would be great to see an unused, private space, made accommodating, pleasant and uninterrupted for the purpose of lactating employees who have returned to work and wish to continue feeding their baby in this manner.
Normalizing Breastfeeding
How do you plan to advocate for and encourage the inclusion of breastfeeding-friendly curricula at all levels of education within our school district?
I appreciate the idea of normalizing the act of breastfeeding and will advocate implementing age-appropriate curricula aimed toward taking away the stigma. As an example, elementary aged children can handle the concept of mammals feeding their young as seen through farm animals. Middle and high school aged students are developmentally capable of understanding and should be taught through clear language, that people too, are mammals and we can feed our young. It is important they receive facts around the health benefits of breastfeeding so they can make choices as adults if they choose to raise children, and/or be supportive community members for others.
Check out all the posts in this series on the insights of our Board of Education candidates relating to lactation family friendly support in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.