Breastfeeding for Bosom Buddies
By ALGrace | Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 09:13
Are you a new mum in Exmouth? Exmouth breastfeeding mums are invited to attend a weekly group dedicated to supporting women who want to breastfeed.
The Bosom Buddies group is held every Tuesday, 10am until noon, at the Exmouth Children’s Centre, in Moorfield Road.
“We’re welcoming mums or mums-to-be to come along, talk in confidence
about worries or questions, and have a cup of tea or talk to other
breast-feeding mums,” says Rachel Loram, centre manager.
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 120 countries to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world.
It commemorates the Innocenti Declaration made by The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF policy-makers in August 1990 to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding until a baby is six months old, and continued breastfeeding with the addition of nutritious complementary foods for up to two years or beyond.
The theme of World Breastfeeding Week 2009 is "Breastfeeding - a vital emergency response. Are you ready?" It highlights the need to protect, promote and support breastfeeding in international emergency situations, such as earthquakes or floods, for infant and young child survival, health and development.
But on a local level, is there anything you would say about support for breastfeeding mums or new mums in Exmouth? Comment on this story or write your own!
Comments
I have a 6 month old baby and agree that breast feeding is best for baby for a whole multitude of reasons. However, i also feel that there is a lot of pressure on new mothers to breast feed and what the area really needs is groups for new mothers to meet irrespective of whether they are breast or bottle feeding. I have many friends who did it for as long as they could and for medical or other reasons gave up feeding and then felt incredibly guilty. Which is wrong. People will be surpised to hear that midwifes and health visitors are not allowed to even suggest bottle feeding and they do not realise the pressure this can put on women. I remember bringing my new baby home and feeding him 7 times a day which took about an hour each time, that was 7 hours a day either sat watching daytime tv or in his nursery. As you can imagine this made me feel a little isolated and was a somehwat shock to my system. You will be surprised to know it can be one of the major factors that trigger postnatal depression.
So, although a group like this is good, i fell that it should not be exclusively for women who breastfeed, we really need a few more mother and baby groups in the area. At the children's centre on moorfield road i found when i visited when my baby was 6 weeks old there was very little i could go to.
By button_monkey at 14:35 on 06/08/09
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