Editor’s Note: The post was originally written as part of the Breastfeeding Family Friendly Communities request for community partner updates. It has been updated to incorporate a more local perspective. Breastfeed Orange NC continues to be grateful for the support and enthusiasm of the community.
Breastfeed Orange NC is celebrating National Breastfeeding Month with gratitude and joy, new energy and enthusiasm! Throughout National Breastfeeding Month (August 1-September 11), we are recognizing stakeholders and advocates and expanding our presence in the community to create more breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding friendly spaces for families in Orange County. We also have welcomed a team of students from the UNC Gillings School of Public Health and look forward to the new perspectives and fresh insights that this collaboration will bring to the work of Breastfeed Orange NC.
In Celebration of Our Business Community
During National Breastfeeding Month, Breastfeed Orange NC is celebrating our business community. We know that our business community supports lactating families and we want the families to know this, too. Check out the many businesses and organizations across Orange County that have signed on as Community Partners and Employers. The number continues to grow!
Team members also are reaching out to more businesses and organizations to apply for the Community Partner and Employer award. We are starting with businesses and organizations in our neighborhoods or that we have gotten to know through our work. The response has been amazing, with local businesses eager to join the initiative and contribute to a more inclusive, welcoming community.
If we have not approached you yet, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We want to hear from you! You can apply online or email us at orangenc@breastfeedingcommunities.org to let us know that you would like families to know about your breastfeeding support.
Breastfeed Orange NC has been helping employers to develop lactation support policies that welcome and support lactating employees. In the Employer portion of the award, businesses affirm that their employees are allowed break time to express milk or nurse their children and that employees have access to a lactation space (not a bathroom!) to express milk. Our businesses also are recognizing the importance of supportive lactation policies in their workplace and want more information. This month, we have created a lactation policy sample (https://breastfeedorangenc.org/app/uploads/2023/09/Community_Employee-Lactation-Policy-template.pdf) and are providing assistance to create lactation policies that welcome and support and reassure lactating employees of their employer’s support.
In Celebration of Our Childcare Community
Childcare programs are Community Partners and Employers too, and they continue to step up to provide a welcoming environment for lactating families and employees. We know that these past few years have been challenging for the programs. Many are working hard just to stay open and might not have the capacity to complete the local or state Breastfeeding Friendly Child Care designation application. They have been affirming their support for lactating families and employees by applying for the Community Partner and Employer award.
We are thankful for the enthusiasm and support of the childcare programs to become Community Partners and Employers! This month, we were able to say “thank you” with books and rack cards.
Why books and rack cards?
Members of the Breastfeed Orange NC team, especially the Orange County Partnership for Young Children, have been working with childcare programs to provide resources that normalize breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding for young children and their families.
It is a challenge to normalize breastfeeding when children do not see breastfeeding in the classroom. Books are an important part of a childcare curriculum. They can normalize breastfeeding by showing breastfeeding as part of everyday family activities. Reading books that illustrate breastfeeding provides an opportunity for conversations with the children about how human babies are fed.
Some of the books focus specifically on breastfeeding while others normalize breastfeeding in a quieter way simply by showing the baby being fed as a part of the day’s activities.
The rack cards have been created by the Breastfeed Orange NC team in English and Spanish. They provide local lactation support information for families.
Beyond just saying thank you, both books and rack cards can help the childcare programs complete the designation application, when the y are ready.
In Celebration of Our University Students
National Breastfeeding Month also begins an exciting new partnership with a team of students from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Capstone program. The Capstone team will be working with Breastfeed Orange NC this school year to help designate Carrboro as a Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community. August starts the one-year goal of completing all Ten Steps in Carrboro. We are getting closer, and this collaboration will bring fresh perspectives and resources to the initiative, while providing the students hands-on community experiences.
The Capstone team will receive support, guidance, mentorship, and access to Breastfeed Orange NC resources throughout the year. They will focus their efforts on activities within the local government, school district, and business community. The Capstone team also will document their journey, sharing successes and challenges. Watch for their blog posts throughout the year. We look forward to the Capstone team’s dedication to the project and their valuable contribution towards a more supportive community for lactating families.
National Breastfeeding Month marks the beginning of a new year of growth and possibilities for Breastfeed Orange NC!
HAPPY NEW YEAR and THANK YOU to our Orange County community, our stakeholders and advocates! Our community supports lactating families!
