NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) will be hosting a Breastfeeding Week Celebration in conjunction with National Breastfeeding Awareness Month on Friday, August 24 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The event will be held at the Workforce Development Center, and is open to all pregnant women and new moms. The WIC hopes it will increase awareness for community mothers on the breastfeeding support services available to them throughout the community.
Information will be available about pregnancy, post-partum and breastfeeding support services throughout the community, Virginia breastfeeding laws, breastfeeding-friendly businesses, employers and daycares and what mothers need to know about successfully breastfeeding while working outside of the home.
Free samples and raffles will be offered. Children are welcome to attend; crafts and active play activities will be available.
According to the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the most highly effective preventive measures a mother can take to protect the health of her infant is to breastfeed. However, in the United States, although most mothers hope to breastfeed and 81 percent of babies start out being breastfed, only 22 percent are exclusively breastfed six months later.
