August is celebrated as National Breastfeeding Month to underscore the importance of breastfeeding to establish a healthy start to life.
“We must continue to be advocates of breastfeeding,” says Dr. Virginia Caine, director of the Marion County Public Health Department. “Partnerships with organizations like Indianapolis Healthy Start, the Indiana Mothers Milk Bank (IMMB) and others increase the rate of breastfeeding initiation and duration, which will lead to healthier babies, mothers and families in Marion County and beyond.”
In Marion County, there is work to be done to improve breastfeeding. Just over half of our African-American mothers (54.9 percent) initiated breastfeeding in 2010 and just under 70 percent of white mothers (69.9 percent) initiated breastfeeding in 2010.
Marion County African-American mothers are slightly ahead of the national average of 54.4 percent while white mothers are below the national average of 74.3 percent.
Efforts to improve these rates continue as groups from around the state share the message of increasing awareness to the importance of breastfeeding.
One example is through an initiative at the Indiana State Fair.
The Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank, together with its partnering organizations, supports the Lactation Station at the Indiana State Fair. Since its creation in 2006 to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week, the Lactation Station has grown from a single station to three stations located around the fairgrounds that provide crucial services, free of cost, to thousands of moms and families. The goal of the Lactation Station is to provide nursing mothers with a clean, comfortable place to breastfeed while also gathering information from a variety of organizations concerned with improving the health of our state’s women, infants and children.
This year, Indiana WIC serves as the presenting sponsor for the IMMB Lactation Stations. IMMB has also partnered with Indianapolis Healthy Start (a program of the Marion County Public Health Department), Wishard, Day Nursery Association of Indianapolis, La Leche League, March of Dimes, College Choice, and Medela to help support and promote breastfeeding in Indiana. In addition, volunteers from hospitals, health care organizations, and other community groups generously donate their time to help staff the stations. The Lactation Station has truly become a forum for innovation and development as individuals and leaders from organizations statewide gather to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
The Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank, one of only 10 nonprofit human milk banks in the United States, created the Lactation Station to fill the crucial need for a clean, comfortable place to breastfeed at events such as the Indiana State Fair. In addition, the Milk Bank, with its partnering organizations, hopes to normalize the views of breastfeeding and ultimately increase breastfeeding rates in Indiana.
Public health officials believe there is a role the community can play when it comes to breastfeeding.
“We congratulate those employers who have made accommodations for their employees who need dedicated space and time to pump breast milk while at work. We encourage those who have not made such accommodations to do so,” said Dr. Caine. “To our families, friends, co-workers and acquaintances, we urge your continued support of breastfeeding and of our mothers who choose to breastfeed.”
For more information on donating or receiving pasteurized donor human milk to the Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank, please visit the Web site at www.immb.org or call (317) 536 – 1670.
