Introduction:
The World Breastfeeding Week is marked every year over the period from 1-7 August in more than 170 countries to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of infants throughout the world. Breastfeeding is the best way to provide the newborns with the nutrients they need. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breastfeeding as the only way of feeding until the infant is 6 months old, and then keeping up breastfeeding along with other complementary foods for up to two years.
Objectives of the World Breastfeeding Week:
- Galvanize multi-dimensional support from all sectors to enable women everywhere to work and breastfeed.
- Promote actions by employers to become family/ parent/ baby and mother-friendly, and to actively facilitate and support employed women to continue breastfeeding.
- Inform people about the latest in global maternity protection entitlements, and raise awareness of the need to strengthen related national legislation and implementation.
- Strengthen and facilitate and showcase supportive practices that enable women working in the informal sector to breastfeed.
Engage with target groups e.g. with trade unions, workers' rights organizations, women groups and youth groups to protect the breastfeeding rights of women in the workplace.
Internationally approved date: August 1st – 7th, 2015
Locally approved date: Shawal 16th- 22nd, 1436H
Theme of the World Breastfeeding Week 2015:
(Breastfeeding and Work: Let's Make It Work!).
Targeted groups:
- Pregnant women
- New mothers
- Premature babies
- Maternity and children hospitals
- Medical staff; including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and health mentors.
- Educational staff; including teachers, social workers and others.
- Health decision makers.
- Medical organizations and bodies.
- The public.
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