On Wednesday, April 21, Mayor Pam Hemminger (re)proclaimed that Chapel Hill is a Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community! During the virtual town meeting, Mayor Hemminger shared important reasons for the Town of Chapel Hill’s commitment to being a breastfeeding family friendly community and expressed thanks for the many community stakeholders who are working in the community to support a family’s decision to breastfeed.
We joined into the larger movement along with partners…UNC Women’s Hospital, Women’s Birth and Wellness Center, and Orange County to support women’s and families decisions to breastfeed…Families are a priority in #ChapelHill, and part of helping families to thrive is ensuring that they receive community support to develop and sustain healthy lifestyles.
We appreciate the work of local healthcare professionals, educators, childcare workers, and others in our community who help support mothers and families.
Mayor Hemminger, April 21, 2021
Text of the Proclamation:
PROCLAMATION “BREASTFEEDING FAMILY FRIENDLY COMMUNITY” WHEREAS, families are a priority in the Town of Chapel Hill, and part of helping families to thrive is ensuring that they receive community support to develop and sustain healthy lifestyles; and WHEREAS, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Dietetic Association, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Academy of Family Physicians, and other leading health organizations, breastfeeding is the optimal food for infants; and WHEREAS, breastfeeding is associated with lower rates of childhood illness, such as obesity, diabetes, and infectious diseases, as well as reduced risk of maternal breast and ovarian cancers and a faster recovery from childbirth as compared to formula feeding; and WHEREAS, breastfeeding promotes social-emotional development, benefits the entire family, and is associated with lifelong health and development; and WHEREAS, a parent’s decision to feed human milk to infants directly or by expression should be supported by family members and the community; and WHEREAS, promoting best practices in human milk feeding for healthcare providers and clinics encourages families to start and continue to feed human milk; and WHEREAS, creating a local Breastfeeding Friendly Child Care designation supports parents and childcare staff to continue breastfeeding and offering expressed milk, when returning to work or school, and childcare staff with on-site breastfeeding facilities or spaces; and WHEREAS, encouraging our local education systems to include breastfeeding and human milk feeding curricula at all levels normalizes breastfeeding; and WHEREAS, our community is proud to have attained broad support and direct community actions, through the UNC Women’s Hospital, the Women’s Birth and Wellness Center and the Orange County Health; and WHEREAS, by providing a supportive and welcoming environment, a breastfeeding friendly community encourages families of all races, ethnicities, and family structures to initiate and continue optimal infant feeding/nursing; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Chapel Hill Town Council, do hereby proclaim the Town of Chapel Hill to be a “Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community" and urge everyone to provide a supportive and welcoming environment for breastfeeding mothers and their families. GIVEN UNDER MY HAND AND THE SEAL OF THE TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL ON THIS THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF APRIL IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE. (Signed by the Mayor Pam Hemminger)
Thank you to the Town of Chapel Hill for your support of breast/chestfeeding and human milk feeding families in our community! A Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community is truly a community effort, and stakeholders include everyone. Find out more about the initiative and how you can support this vital work.
