Tag: celebrate

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African American Breastfeeding Network (AABN) is outside and celebrating connection and community

Photo by Criativa Pix Fotografia

For 15 years, the African American Breastfeeding Network (AABN) has been leading and immersed in integral work to improve maternal child health outcomes in the Greater Milwaukee area.

AABN was founded by Angelia Wilks-Tate and Dalvery Blackwell who set out to  address breastfeeding disparities through a community-led organization. Blackwell now serves as the organization’s first executive director and Wilks-Tate serves as the President of the Board Directors.

Photo by julio andres rosario ortiz

AABN hosts healing spaces for birth workers, facilitates doula trainings including the HealthConnect One community doula training and WeRISE Community Doula Program, celebrates father involvement, holds space for bereaved parents, fights for birth and reproductive justice, and more and more and more. Simply visit their Facebook page and you’ll catch a glimpse of the passion, the wisdom, comradery, fun, and the dedication. You can also read about their 2020 impact here.

Yesterday, the organization and its partners hosted their ninth annual  Lift Up Every Baby! Celebration.  Lift Up Every Baby “is all about the blissful happiness we experience when our community comes together to celebrate, securing our collective power to help create spaces of health and wellness!” the organization shared with their social media followers. Pregnant people and young families were invited to experience a community-drive and  “family-centered afternoon of festivities, celebrations, good food and positive vibes.”

The event fit perfectly into Black Breastfeeding Week’s (BBW) 2023 theme: We Outside! Celebrating Connection & Our Communities.

https://blackbreastfeedingweek.org/

Perhaps one of the most touching moments of each year’s event is the opening ceremony made possible by Zakiya Courtney celebrating participants’ cultural heritage and values.

You can check out footage from last year’s event here and stay tuned for reports from this year’s celebration here.

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22 more actions in 2022

 In our third installment of 22 in 2022, we bring you 22 MORE Actions in 2022, because there is always work to do. 

Source: United States Breastfeeding Committee

22 in 2022 was inspired by Life Kit’s 22 Tips for 2022, and we hope it provides inspiration for you to forge forward with this important work.

  1. Learn about the Girls’ Bill of Rights. Empowered women start with empowered girls. 
  2. Watch a film centered around maternal child health like  A Doula Story, The Milky Way breastfeeding documentary, Chocolate Milk, Zero Weeks, Legacy Power Voice: Movements in Black Midwifery or register to play Factuality. 
  3. Identify and network with an individual or organization with a mission that intersects with maternal child health. This shouldn’t be a challenge… “All roads lead to breastfeeding!” (A popular adage at Healthy Children Project.)  Often, we find ourselves preaching to the choir, shouting in an echo chamber, whatever you want to call it. It’s time to reach beyond our normal audience. 
  4. Follow Dr. Magdelena Whoolery on social media to stay up to date on strategies that combat the multi-billion dollar artificial baby milk industry. 
  5. Sign on to USBC’s organizational letter in support of the DEMAND Act of 2022.
  6. Congratulate, encourage or simply smile at a mother. 
  7. Explore White Ribbon Alliance’s work around respectful care. You can start by watching this poignant webinar Healthcare Professionals Honoring Women’s Demands for Respectful Care. 
  8. Read The First Food System: The importance of breastfeeding in global food systems discussions.
  9. Read Lactation in quarantine: The (in)visibility of human milk feeding during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. 
  10. Sign this petition to stop unethical formula research on babies. 
  11. Check out the updated Center for WorkLife Law’s Winning New Rights for Lactating Workers: An Advocate’s Toolkit. 
  12. Register for a free PQI Innovation webinar.
  13. Read the revised Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) Clinical Protocol #2: Guidelines for Birth Hospitalization Discharge of Breastfeeding Dyads here. 
  14. Gear up for World Breastfeeding Week 2022 and National Breastfeeding Month. 
  15. Check out this NIH project Breastmilk Ecology: Genesis of Infant Nutrition (BEGIN) Project which seeks a deeper understanding of human milk biology to address ongoing and emerging questions about infant feeding practices.  
  16. Learn about the Melanated Mammary Atlas.
  17. Consider becoming a ROSE community transformer or share the opportunity with someone who may be interested. 
  18. Get familiar with WHO’s recent report How the marketing of formula milk influences our decisions on infant feeding and disseminate the corresponding infographics. 
  19. Sensitize journalists and the media to stimulate public debate on the links between breastfeeding and the climate crisis as suggested by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA).
  20. Get to know how breastfeeding and proper nutrition fits into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 
  21. Access one of the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality’s (NICHQ) webinars on breastfeeding, infant health, early childhood or health equity here. 
  22. Engage with the PUMP Act Toolkit! This is crucial, time-sensitive work that will make a huge difference for families across our nation.

Read our original list of 22 Actions here and our celebration of unsung sheroes/heroes here. 

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