World Breastfeeding Week 2024

World Breastfeeding Week 2024 is from Thursday 1st August – Wednesday 7th August 2024. The global theme set by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) for this year is:

“Closing The Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All.”

#WBW2024 will focus on survival, health and wellbeing. It will showcase the need to improve breastfeeding support to reduce inequalities that exist in our society with a special focus on breastfeeding in times of emergencies and crises.

This year’s theme is important because:

Lack of breastfeeding support during the critical first week negatively affects the overall breastfeeding intentions and prevalence.
Unregulated donation of breastmilk substitutes (i.e. formula) combined with a lack of access to clean and safe water during emergencies place infants and young children at higher risk of malnutrition and mortality.
Breastfeeding can act as an equaliser in our society and efforts must be made to ensure everyone especially the vulnerable group has access to breastfeeding support and opportunities.
Investment in breastfeeding to address these inequalities is vital and can help alleviate the social inequalities.
Protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding addresses inequalities that stand in the way of sustainable development (source: WABA, 2024).

You can find more information at: https://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/

Support for breastfeeding parents

This is a handy list of resources for parents in relation to breastfeeding:

Find Your Breastfeeding Support – a tool that lets you search for Breastfeeding Support in New Zealand. You will be able to find support and contact deatils for breastfeeding services available near you.

Breastfeeding Friendly Workplaces – information for both employees and employers to promote a supportive workplace environment for breastfeeding in Aotearoa.

Crayon Parental Leave Register – the most comprehensive database of employer parental leave policies in Aotearoa New Zealand so that all Kiwis can plan confidently for their family’s future; including returning to work while breastfeeding.

He Wāhi Haumaru – look out for the He Wāhi Haumaru (Breastfeeding Welcome Here) symbol created by BreastfeedingNZ. You will find this at local cafes, shops and spaces that welcome whānau and babies. This free symbol can also be printed off and displayed across any welcoming and supportive communities. Contact [email protected] for more information.

What’s On across Aotearoa

Here is a list of events and gatherings happening across the motu to celebrate breastfeeding over the coming year. Find one in your area and pop along to celebrate!

Check out the breastfeeding calendar of events here.

Breastfeeding resources and posters

Celebrate breastfeeding across Aotearoa by printing one of these posters to use in your workplace or download them to share on social media. Please note there are both PNG and PDF files available. PNG files are great for social media and PDF files are best for printing.

Click any of the images below to download the PNG file. Scroll down to find PDF files.