Editorials

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 250 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Breast-feeding festival sends right message Saturday will be a big day for boosting Mommy morale. The Snohomish Health District, La Leche League, WIC, Breastfeeding Coalition of Snohomish County and other community groups have partnered to organize an 11th annual celebration of breast-feeding. The event starts at 10 a.m. at Forest Park in Everett, and will feature a family fair, simultaneous breast-feeding and a host of advocates and resources. Whether or not a family is currently breast-feeding, this is a great chance to network and show support. Breast-feeding is a natural, nutritional process that everyone can rally behind. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that 88.4 percent of infants in Washington have had at least some breast-feeding. Not bad, but that number drops to 56.6 percent after 6 months of age and keeps dropping after that. The numbers for infants who breast-feed exclusively are anemic in comparison. Local advocates work tirelessly to improve those statistics, but the truth is that women with more education and income are more likely to breast-feed longer. Their employers are more likely to offer generous maternity leave, milk-pumping breaks and other forms of support. These benefits aren't viable for every employer, but they are something society must keep in mind and work for. New mothers face enough confusion, exhaustion and anxiety -- nurturing their new baby should not make things worse. Local advocates are also careful to emphasize that breast-feeding is not just a women's issue or a children's issue. Breast-fed babies make an indelible bond with their mothers and have fewer health problems, making breast-feeding a vital community health issue. It empowers women and changes lives -- a kind of nursing that is both physical and emotional. Unfortunately, women still face criticism, at least in the form of disapproving looks, when nursing in public. The "natural picnic" that is part of Saturday's event is all about fighting that antiquated, Puritanical idea. Moms should feel comfortable breast-feeding almost anywhere and the picnic celebrates that as a good thing. Someday, the stereotype of the pajama-clad nursing mom, cloistered alone in her bedroom, will fade away. Last year, about 200 people came to the celebration, which has relocated several times over the years because of growing attendance. New mothers, especially those facing social and financial breast-feeding backlash, need and deserve this kind of safety net. Breast-feeding is not just a lifestyle for moms and babies, but a positive health choice that affects the whole community. An annual festival is a fun way to show that off.

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