The Peru Gazette

Worldwide event promotes breastfeeding as a healthy start for babies 

PLATTSBURGH, NY – Breastfeeding women and their families are invited to participate in The Big Latch On, which is planned for Saturday, April 13, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. The free event, hosted by the University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital’s (CVPH) Alice T. Miner Women and Children Center (WCC), will be held inside the hospital’s board room.

Registration begins at 9:30 a.m., with latch time starting promptly at 10:30 am. Each year, breastfeeding women across the globe come together to nurse their child for one full minute at an established time. The event originated in New Zealand and was started by the Women’s Health Action in 2005 as part of World Breastfeeding Week.

The Plattsburgh Big Latch On is held annually as part of this worldwide effort to promote breastfeeding as a healthy start for babies. The Big Latch On is a celebration of breastfeeding, though all types of infant feeding are recognized as valid and supported.

“The breastfeeding journey is different for every woman. For some, it can be a real challenge,” Jocelyn Fittin, BSN, RN, IBCLC, a Lactation Consultant with the WCC, says. “This event is so important because women and families from our community can see that they’re not alone and that there is a lot of support out there to lean on. I’m also proud of how much this event has helped normalize breastfeeding over the years. And it’s pretty amazing that we get to be part of something that’s happening around the world.”

In addition to the latch-on moment, mothers, babies and their loved ones can also enjoy:

• Getting their picture taken courtesy of Life to Lens Photography
• Prizes for the youngest and oldest nursling
• Door prize
• Refreshments
• Local agencies and vendors on site with information and to answer questions
• Bake sale benefiting the WCC Bereavement Program to help families through infant loss

For more information, contact Fittin at (518) 562-7142.