Tuesday through Monday, Aug. 1-7, is World Breastfeeding Week. New mothers and those who influenced their decisions about feeding newborns are encouraged to attend a free breastfeeding program Wednesday, Aug. 2, at First Presbyterian Church, 650 Summers Ave. in Orangeburg.

“Building a Breastfeeding-Friendly Community,” a program organized by the Nutrition Office of the Region 5 South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control in Orangeburg, is designed to promote breastfeeding as a normal process and to increase knowledge about breastfeeding.

“We hope to increase social awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding to make it more socially acceptable and to remove constraints that prevent the exclusive use of breast milk,” says Renee Nelson, breastfeeding coordinator of the DHEC office.

“Breastfeeding is one of the most important contributors to infant health,” says former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher. “Breastfeeding provides a range of benefits for the infant’s growth, immunity, and development. In addition, breastfeeding improves maternal health and contributes economic benefits to the family, health care system, and workplace.”

Anyone in the community is invited. Hospital staff; public health workers; personnel with the Women, Infants and Children program; childbirth educators; nurses; pediatricians; family practice physicians; breastfeeding advocates; obstetrician-gynecologists; midwives and perinatal outreach workers are especially encouraged to attend.

Registration will be from 9:30 till 10 a.m.

At 10 a.m., Nelson and Region 5 Health director Mike Chappell will speak briefly, followed at 10:15 a.m. by WIC State Breastfeeding Coordinator Lisa Baker.

Door prizes will be awarded during a break at 11 a.m.

Dr. Sandra Stephens, a pediatrician at the Family Health Center will speak from 11:15 a.m. to noon. The program breaks for lunch (on your own) from noon to 1:15 p.m.

From 1:15 to 2:45 p.m. TRMC lactation consultant Donna Rhames will speak. A half-hour segment is set aside following Rhames’ address for the community to speak about their experiences with breastfeeding, and Region 5 nutritionist Lisa Capers will follow with a 15-minute talk. The program will end by 4 p.m.

For more information, call Renee Nelson at 803-536-9060.

The theme of this year’s World Breastfeeding Week is “Code Watch: 25 Years of Protecting Breastfeeding,” which celebrates the progress made to protect and promote the practice worldwide, according to Rebecca Matthias, president and creative director of Motherhood Maternity, a maternity clothing business.

Matthias says expectant mothers should be encouraged to breastfeed, not only for their infants, but also for themselves. “Nursing your newborn is a beautiful gift only a mother could give,” she said.

According to Matthias, experts say: mother’s milk is the perfect food for newborns, providing just the right amount of fat, sugar, water and protein from you; breastfeeding promotes a strong bond between mother and baby; breast-fed babies have fewer serious infections of the ear and chest and have fewer allergies; women who breastfeed have a decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancer; and breastfeeding causes the release of hormones that help the mother’s body to lose weight more easily.

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