July 27, 2005
Local La Leche League and DMC Center for Early Learning Hosting Baby Fair to
Recognize World Breastfeeding Week for 2005
Aug. 5 event includes information about importance of breastfeeding, children’s
activities, story time and silent auction benefiting local league
Through Sept. 30, La Leche Leagues across the country will celebrate World Breastfeeding
Week with local activities to educate parents about the importance of breastfeeding.
On Friday, Aug. 5, Del Mar College’s Morris L. Lichtenstein, Jr. Center
for Early Learning, the La Leche League of Corpus Christi, the Nueces County
Community Action Agency Birth-to-Five Head Start program and the Education Service
Center Region 2 will join forces and hold a World Breastfeeding Celebration
and Baby Fair to encourage local mothers to breastfeed their babies.
“Breastfeeding gets babies off to a good start,” says Linda Ard, chair
of the College’s Department of Human Services, which offers certificates
and associate’s degrees in early childhood and child development. “It’s
not only beneficial for babies. The ‘win-win’ results also benefit
their families and the community.”
Organizers will hold the local Aug. 5 event at the Center for Early Learning,
located on the DMC East Campus on Kosar off Staples at Baldwin, from 6 to 9
p.m. A campus map is available at www.delmar.edu/maps/east.html.
The celebration includes informational sessions about breastfeeding and nutrition,
children’s activities, story time and a silent auction with proceeds benefiting
the local La Leche League, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit. Members from the community
are invited and encouraged to attend. For more information about the event,
call 985-0705.
The La Leche League’s mission is to help mothers worldwide to breastfeed
through mother-to-mother support, education, information and encouragement and
to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in
the healthy development of the baby and mother.
Rachel Lebowitz with the La Leche League of Corpus Christi, says, “Breastfeeding’s
advantages include many health benefits to both mother and child. In fact, the
American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants receive human milk exclusively
for the first 6 months of life.” She adds that breastfeeding should continue
to be infants main source of nutrition for the first year.
“Human milk is nature’s vaccine for the newborn by contributing to
the development of the brain and nervous system,” Lebowitz notes, “by
decreasing a child’s chance of acquiring allergies, getting ear infections
and becoming overweight.”
Among features provided by Del Mar’s Center for Early Learning is a lactating
lounge. The facility allows mothers, whether staff or students, to stop by and
breastfeed their infants throughout the day.
Ard notes that breastfeeding “also cuts down on food costs the first year
as well as establishes a foundation for better long-term emotional health and
a greater bond between infant and mother.”
“If more mothers breastfed their infants, communities could also become
healthier in the long run,” Ard adds. “Obesity contributes to diabetes.
Babies who are breastfed only eat what they need and don’t overeat because
Mommy says, ‘You have to finish your cereal.’” In fact, Ard notes
that the Center for Disease Control cites the number one way to fight obesity
is for mothers to breastfeed.
Ard also says, “Breastfeeding benefits the community because children who
have been breastfed get sick less frequently. Parents don’t have to take
sick leave as often.”
La Leche League of Corpus Christi provides two monthly meetings offering information
and support to mothers interested in breastfeeding. The local league maintains
a free-lending library with books about breastfeeding, pregnancy and childcare
and also provides 24-hour telephone support to the community at no charge. All
La Leche League Leaders are volunteers accredited by La Leche League International.
Funds raised during the local league’s campaigns are earmarked for projects
at the local, state, national and international levels with the majority of
funds remaining with the local league.
To learn more about the La Leche League, visit www.lalecheleague.org.
-DMC-mce