Lactation Celebration: Your Guide to Events & Themes for National Breastfeeding Month 2024

Get ready to embrace the power of connection and uplifting one another as we celebrate National Breastfeeding Month – a two-month journey dedicated to honoring the incredible bond between parents and infants. From August to September, we'll delve into the rich history, diverse themes, and exciting events that make this observance a true celebration of lactation.

• Organization: U.S. Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) 
• 2024 Theme: Nourish, Sustain, Thrive
• Website: USbreastfeeding.org/national-breastfeeding-month.html
• Other Resource: NBM Proclamation Toolkit for submitting a request for the US Congress to declare August as National Breastfeeding Month in the United States.
• Mission: To drive collaborative efforts for policy and practices that create a landscape of breastfeeding support across the United States.
• History: The United States focused National Breastfeeding Month (NBM) was launched in 1990. The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) officially declared August as National Breastfeeding Month on August 6, 2011 and it is now celebrated annually!
  
  

• Organization: World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA)
• 2024 Theme: Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All
• Website: https://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/
• Hashtags: #WBW2024 #WABA ​#ClosingTheGap #BreastfeedingSupportForAll #worldbreastfeedingweek2024 #WarmChain #breastfeeding #SDGs #buildingbackbetter ​
• Mission: To protect, promote and support breastfeeding worldwide in the framework of the Innocenti Declarations (1990 and 2005) and the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding through networking and facilitating collaborative efforts in social mobilization, advocacy, information dissemination and capacity building.
• History: World Breastfeeding Week started with the Innocenti Declaration, which was produced and adopted by participants at the WHO/UNICEF policymakers’ meeting on “Breastfeeding in the 1990s: A Global Initiative”. The global focused World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) was launched the year following in 1992 and is celebrated every 1-7 August in commemoration of the Innocenti Declaration.
  
  

• Organization: Indigenous Milk Medicine Collective
• 2024 Theme: Mind. Body. Milk Medicine.
• Website: Indigenousmilkmedicinecollective.org/milkmedicineweek
• Facebook: Facebook.com/IndigenousMilkMedicineWeek/
• Mission: Indigenous Milk Medicine Heals. It is a grassroots organization of Native women, two-spirit, and femme lactation providers, lactivists and supporters. We work to increase support and resources for Native first food experiences, to promote healing and wellness, and to push for access, opportunity, visibility and equity in Indigenous Milk experiences. Indigenous Milk Medicine Collective sponsors Indigenous Milk Medicine Week which has been held annually since 2019 in August during National Breastfeeding/Lactation Month. 
  
  

• Organization: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Lactation Collaborative of California
• Theme: Bridging the Gaps for AANHPI Families
• Website: https://aanhpihealthcollab.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AANHPIBreastfeedingWeek/
• Mission: Grounded in our cultural context, we mobilize AANHPI communities, mainstream reproductive health organizations, and public health systems through advocacy, capacity building, and policy work for systemic change to uplift AANHPI communities and protect our right to thrive. 
  
  

• Organization: Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association
• 2024 Theme: Listen Up! Reclaiming Our Narrative & Centering Our Stories for Breastfeeding Justice
• Website: Blackbreastfeedingweek.org/
• Facebook: Facebook.com/BlackBreastfeedingWeek
• Hashtags: #blackbreastfeedingweek #BBW24
• Mission: Black Breastfeeding Week was created because for over 40 years there has been a gaping racial disparity in breastfeeding rates. The most recent CDC data show that 75% of white women have ever breastfed versus 58.9% of black women.
  
  

• Organization: Healthy Horizons
• 2024 Theme: Policy to Practice: Making Lactation Support a Reality
• Website: https://www.healthyhorizons.com/WLW
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorkplaceLactationWeek
• Instagram: @WorkplaceLactationWeek or Instagram.com/WorkplaceLactationWeek
• Hashtags: #WLW #WLW2024 #WorkplaceLactationWeek #PolicyToPractice
• Mission and History: This week celebrates the contributions of nursing mothers and parents in the workplace and aligns with Labor Day, highlighting the vital role working and pumping parents play in the workforce. It's a time to recognize and support the efforts of working parents who balance the responsibilities of their careers and caring for their children.
• History: Planning for this important initiative began in 2022, with the first-ever Workplace Lactation Week celebrated September 1-7, 2023. It is now celebrated annually from September 1st to September 7th to coincide with Labor Day. 
  
  

In honor of National Breastfeeding Month, Healthy Horizons started Workplace Lactation Week. Which coincides with Labor Day to celebrate working parents and the Healthy Horizons 7th Annual Lactation Room Contest, where 3 lucky organizations and parents will receive $20,000 in combined lactation room and pumping gifts!

In addition, Healthy Horizons will be hosting a free virtual Back to Work Lactation & Pumping Class on September 6, 2024 and an in-person Walk for Breastfeeding Awareness in Burlingame, California on August 24, 2024. Please join us as we work to support lactating parents in the workplace!

• 2024 Theme: Reclaiming Our Culture Through Lactation
  
  

National Breastfeeding Month serves as a time to celebrate and recognize the importance of breastfeeding for the health and well-being of mothers, babies, and communities. By highlighting its benefits and advocating for supportive policies, we can empower more women and families to choose to breastfeed, and create a nurturing environment where every parent feels supported on their chest/breastfeeding journey. Let's uplift this beautiful and natural bond between a parent and their child and work towards a society that embraces and supports chest/breastfeeding!