(Black PR Wire) — Black Breastfeeding Week (BBW) kicks off August 25th and runs through August 31st. BBW creates national awareness and lifts up Black families and communities to support one another through a variety of support initiatives. The theme, “Revive, Restore, Reclaim!” is pertinent to 2020 as many Black moms faced increased challenges in their breastfeeding journey amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“This year’s Black Breastfeeding Week comes at a time when the Black community has statistically been hit hardest by COVID-19, physically, emotionally and financially, and left to fend for themselves,” says Kiddada Green, founding executive director of Black Mothers Breastfeeding Association and co-founder of BBW. “It is more important than it has ever been to spread the word about the positive effects of breastfeeding. The benefits received by optimizing the most effective, nutritional food source that boosts babies’ immune systems is crucial during this pandemic.”
“In reality, we are living through outbreaks of twin pandemics–the public health pandemic and the ongoing pandemic of racism, which continues to cause ongoing harm to Black people and especially Black birthing bodies and their infants. This year’s theme to Revive, Restore, Reclaim is a much needed call to action for Black families at this time,” says Kimberly Seals Allers, a co-founder of BBW and founder of the Irth app.
“In this moment of intense pain and potential, we remind Black families that our history of surviving impossible times comes from a deep commitment to creating anew, healing the tenderness and always asserting our right to be,” BBW co-founder and nurse-midwife Anayah Sangodele-Ayoka continues, “birthing, lactating and nourishing, too, are in this tradition.”
BBW supporters can participate in an array of events that include Wellness Wednesday’s Twitter Chat, by using the #WellnessWed, August 26th from 2PM-3PM ET hosted by @MomsRising. The topical event will shed light on the disparities Black families are facing during COVID-19, where families can find additional community-led support and why BBW is a much-needed resource for Black families.
For those looking forward to the Annual Baby Lift Up, an event created by BBW founders to give recognition to the importance and value of Black children, you can visit blackbreastfeedingweek.org for a list of local lift-ups or you can participate in the international “Lift Up” organized by the BBW national organizing committee on Saturday, August 29 at 3pm EST.
Shoutout Sunday, takes time to highlight an array of unsung she-ros in lactation. To access the event go to Facebook/Black Breastfeeding Week or the @Blkbfingweek Instagram handle.
The BBW COVID-19 and Black & Liberation Series will host a total of six events that include 102 Days: A NICU Experience During COVID-19, August 27th at 8PM EST, hosted by renowned breastfeeding advocate and author, Kimberly Seals Allers, with special guest Whitney Robinson, founder of The Renee, a maternal health lab. Series participants can also look forward to Teen Moms on Parenting During COVID-19 hosted by Marketia White from Mommies In the D. For a list of additional series events visit blackbreastfeedingweek.org
We’d like to thank MomsRising and Lansinoh for their patron level sponsorship of this year’s Black Breastfeeding Week and supporting our initiative to Revive, Restore and Reclaim. To find a complete list of all BBW activities you can participate in, please visit blackbreastfeedingweek.org
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About Black Breastfeeding Week:
Founded in 2013 by three nationally recognized breastfeeding advocates, Black Breastfeeding Week is an annual, week-long community-level and multi-media campaign from August 25-31st to raise awareness of the health benefits and personal empowerment of breastfeeding in the black community. Despite the proven benefits of breastfeeding for mothers and babies, for over 40 years there has been a gaping disparity in breastfeeding rates between whites and blacks—the reasons are complex. However, increasing breastfeeding rates among black women is a critical health imperative in the black community. BBW is an empowerment week to increase awareness of the critical role of breastfeeding in improving maternal and child health outcomes and reducing infant mortality rates in the black community. The week is also dedicated to celebrating all of the ways black families support healthy and strong infants from supporting breastfeeding to early literacy and good nutrition. Learn more at www.BlackBreastfeedingWeek.org.