The North Bay Parry Sound Health Unit kicked off National Breastfeeding week with a ‘Normalize It’ campaign.
The campaign is designed to promote and celebrate breastfeeding families. As part of the campaign, the Health Unit unveiled four breastfeeding cutouts of local women which will be on display across the district.
“I am pretty open with breastfeeding so for me to volunteer for something like this was pretty natural,” Natalie LeClaire, one of the models of the cutouts said. “Breastfeeding is a very important part of an infant’s development. I feel that being able to use my confidence to spread the word, I can help other moms to get out there and nurse when their babies need it.”
“We really want to emphasize the benefits of breastfeeding,” Dr. Jim Chirico of the Health Unit, explained. “We know it is so important for both moms and babies which is why we are promoting this type of campaign.”
Breastfeeding might seem like a natural thing for most, but there is still a stigma of public breastfeeding according to LeClaire.
“It is such a natural part. It is what women are designed to do. It’s important that we get the message out. People may feel that it is normal, but until we make it clear that it is normal, there will still be reservations.”
Health Canada and the Canadian Paediatric Society recommend breastfeeding up to two years and beyond – according to provincial data many families initiate breastfeeding after birth but don’t reach their breastfeeding goals due to barriers such as comfort breastfeeding in public, returning to work or school and knowing where to get appropriate support.
The campaign runs until October 15, and the Health Unit is encouraging members of the public if they come across the cutouts to take photos with them and send it to the Health Unit via email or their Facebook page. The top three photos will receive a grocery gift card. If you don’t find one of the cutouts, you can submit a photo of you with a family or friend while breastfeeding.