Challenge aims to garner community support

The babies at the Parent Link Centre last Saturday were three of more than 5,000 around the world who were breastfed at 11 a.m. local time.

They were participating in the Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge, in which communities in more than a dozen countries shoot for the highest number of breastfeeding mothers at one time. The winning community is calculated based on the number of participating babies as a  percentage of the local birth rate. 

It’s the eighth year for the competition and the second time Jasper has participated. Last year, five local moms took part in Jasper, which typically has a yearly birth rate of between 40 and 50 babies. 

The challenge happens during World Breastfeeding Week, from Oct. 1 to 7, for which this year’s theme is  community support for breastfeeding women. Cheryl Potter, public health nurse and lactation consultant, said breastfeeding mothers need accurate information, encouragement, skilled help and empathy from those around them. 

“Breastfeeding is not just a mother’s responsibility,” Potter said. “It needs the support of our healthcare system, government, and society as a whole to help ensure a culture supportive of breastfeeding.”

Potter said attitudes toward breastfeeding are changing. “I think doing things like this brings it to the forefront,” she said. “Women know it’s their right now, whereas before, if they were asked to leave they would leave. Now they say, ‘I have a right’.”

Pam Clark-Bell, one of the participating mothers, said she didn’t have to make up her mind when her children were born because she always knew she would breastfeed. For past generations, she added, it seemed to be “all about” formula, but now because of the information available to mothers, breastfeeding is encouraged more commonly.

The list of benefits gained from breastfeeding versus formula is long, Potter said. It improves the health of both baby and mother in a number of ways, saves the family money, and cuts down on trash as no packaging is needed for breast milk.

At the same time, women shouldn’t feel guilty for not breastfeeding. “It’s not our goal that every woman breastfeeds, only that they have the right to make an informed decision,” Potter said.