10,000 strong: world breastfeeding week

August 1 – 7 is World Breastfeeding Week! It’s a time to celebrate our accomplishments and to help get the word out about benefits of breastfeeding!!! There are far too many booby traps out there that cause women to stop breastfeeding. If we can educate everyone, these misconceptions can be a worry of the past.

Did you know that 50% of moms say they were pressured to stop breastfeeding sooner than they wanted to? I understand that because Ryan is 7 months old and still exclusively breastfed. We’ve tried foods, but he really isn’t interested yet and people apparently don’t believe us, his own parents, when we say that.

57% of women without children feel uncomfortable seeing someone breastfeed in public. 1 in 4 moms have an issue seeing others breastfeeding in public. And 23% of new moms said they wouldn’t breastfeed in public at all. SAD! How can we change that? NURSE IN PUBLIC! The more often it occurs, the more normal it will seem to everyone.

More than 20% of women without children think that formula can keep a baby just as healthy as breastmilk. 18% of moms agree.

(these numbers are from a study done at thebump​.com)

We can change these things with education. When Ryan was born, I was completely unprepared for breastfeeding – never took a class, never read a book. I thought it’d come naturally. I was wrong – it was hard. I ended up with the DVD Simply Breastfeeding by Shari Criso and it seriously saved my sanity. It covered every issue, every question I had. And what’s really awesome? You can find Shari on twitter! And it’s actually her.. conversing with real moms.. spreading the word about breastfeeding.

And even MORE awesome?! Her DVD is currently on her website for all of you to watch for FREE. The goal is to get 10,000 people to head over there and check it out… we want to keep this wonderful resource free for everyone and Shari’s site needs traffic in order to do so. Her video will help so many that would otherwise not be able to afford a DVD or book or class. SO LET’S HELP HER OUT! Support World Breastfeeding Week! Go here: Shari Criso’s Simply Breastfeeding DVD and SPREAD THE WORD!

*look for details soon about a weekly chat (Monday nights!) with Shari herself – each week will cover one chapter of her DVD! and there will be PRIZES *