Will Our Collective Voice for Breastfeeding Be Enough?

What this year has in store for World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month may surprise us

My sense is that this year’s World Breastfeeding Week (WBW24) and National Breastfeeding Month (NBM24) here in the U.S. are going to feel more difficult than usual.

There’s a lot going on within our country and in the world, and a lot of people are hurting and suffering for many reasons.

It may not feel like the right time to get loud about breastfeeding.

However, I do believe we can still do what we need to do in a compassionate way.

One of the things that makes me hopeful is that this year’s WBW24 theme is Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All.

This theme is solution-oriented, and sometimes that makes the conversation easier.

Rather than trying to raise awareness or educate the public about a subject in generalities, we have the opportunity to uncover gaps that make it difficult for mothers to pursue and meet their breastfeeding goals and to offer solutions.

We can focus our messaging on the specific strategies and plans that can close the gaps for families.

It may help individuals to feel less targeted while bringing to light the very lack of support that creates anger and resentment for new parents whose breastfeeding experiences were very difficult.

As for the NBM24 theme of Nourish, Sustain, Thrive, this is a concept that evokes comfort and nurture. This feels like a time where any conversation that is centered on comforting and nurturing could be welcomed and appreciated.

We can often bring the anxiety down in a heated conversation about breastfeeding by centering the needs and health of babies and their parents and families as well.

After all, breastfeeding is not only about babies, and its impacts resonate far longer than a few weeks or months in a lifetime.

It is absolutely incumbent upon us to frame that properly in every conversation because it can truly get lost and forgotten in the mainstream conversation.

You’ll be pleased to know I’ve written up a little guide for you to help you prepare for some of the conversations you are likely to hear and engage in over the coming weeks.

You can download it right here.

I’ve called it “Strategic Ways to Counter Anti-Breastfeeding Rhetoric.”

I encourage you to read it now and plan your messaging and activities with intention.

Take it slow when it comes to social media during these weeks of increased volume on the conversation about breastfeeding.

The platforms can amplify negativity and disillusionment, and we must never forget that our conversations there are not private - everyone can see them.

Is it really helpful for expectant and new parents to be repeatedly exposed to arguments and negativity around infant feeding? I’ve written about that recently here.

We have an opportunity, as we do every year at this time, to spread information about breastfeeding because we make a plan to raise our voices together.

I am not in any way suggesting that we should feel afraid, ashamed, or reluctant to talk or post about breastfeeding.

I hope that you feel inspired to educate others in the best way you know how, empowered to share what you know using your unique voice.

I know you will be paying close attention to ensure you find exactly the right places to speak up and speak out.

We can make a really big impact if we use our collective voice to offer solutions that help to Close the Gaps and explore ways to talk about Nourishing, Sustaining, and Thriving.

We are collectively a passionate and enthusiastic voice for breastfeeding, and we are uniquely positioned to bring the message to the world that breastfeeding still matters.

With everything that human beings around the globe are experiencing, it may matter more than ever.