In Portugal In 2015, World Breastfeeding Week (SMAM) is celebrated from October 5th to 11th, the theme is “Breastfeeding and working: To be successful, it's everyone's commitment."
International Breastfeeding Conference 2015 (UNICEF) - October 2 / Lisbon http://www.unicef.pt/18/poster_conferencia_ihab_2015.pdf
Since 1992, that is, more than 20 years, the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), together with other associations and organizations, has celebrated SMAM. The SMAM campaign began to group and facilitate actions that protect, promote and support Breastfeeding.
Portugal joined this initiative in 2006, through the National Committee for Breastfeeding (a DGS working group). In the first year, we developed actions throughout the country, involving many people and the celebrations were a success.
Today there are more than 170 countries in the world participating in this initiative.
Usually SMAM is celebrated in the 1st week of August, but in Portugal and in several European countries we celebrate it in the 1st week of October, which symbolically corresponds to 40 weeks of pregnancy and after birth the baby begins to breastfeed. This happens because the month of August is a holiday month par excellence, meaning people are not as available to participate in these events.
WABA each year defines a theme on infant nutrition that will be worked on by member countries. In 2015 the theme is “Breastfeeding and working: To be successful, everyone has a commitment”.
Objectives:
- Combine efforts to make it possible for women to work and breastfeed.
- Develop actions by employers to support families, mothers and their babies and encourage working women to continue breastfeeding.
- Inform about maternity rights and protection.
- Facilitate and reinforce practices that support breastfeeding and working women.
- Work proactively to protect the rights of breastfeeding women in the workplace.
To transform breastfeeding into a normative behavior, we need to overcome the most important obstacles that prevent women from deciding for themselves whether they want to breastfeed and for how long. These obstacles include the influence of cultural practices, the scant guidance and limited support offered by hospitals and health services, the inappropriate marketing practices used by manufacturers and distributors of infant formula and other breast milk substitutes, as well as the lack of maternity protection and programs that advocate breastfeeding in the workplace.
A harmful cultural practice is linked to the pressures, both explicit and implicit, that impose that one should not breastfeed in public. Many women do not feel comfortable breastfeeding in public due to the social rejection that often arises when they do so. To overcome this obstacle, mothers must feel the social support necessary to feel comfortable breastfeeding when requested by their baby wherever they are. Breastfeeding in this way sends a clear and convincing message to your family, community and society that breastfeeding is natural and helps to restore in some environments, and incorporate in others, breastfeeding as a normative behavior of the modern woman.
On the website below of the General Directorate of Health you can find information about the global program and guidance on World Breastfeeding Week.
http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/ On this website you can find information about World Breastfeeding Week
http://www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org/downloads.shtml On this website and by clicking on the images below, you can find all the material (poster, flyer, publicity leaflet and calendar) prepared by WABA for 2015. You can print it, use it and display it in your service.
Poster:
Pamphlet:
Promotional flyer:
Calendar:
