It’s World Breastfeeding Week. Here’s why that makes me sad.
Each August, we celebrate and honor World Breastfeeding Week — seven days dedicated to raising awareness, empowering others, and promoting the benefits of breastfeeding. WBW began in 1992, on the heels of the 1990 Innocenti Declaration, an international agreement to focus on the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding.
So, what’s not to like?
As we know, if something has to be singled out in a holiday, week, or month, it means it’s not the norm. It’s not the expectation. It’s an anomaly.
If I’m being honest, I struggle with World Breastfeeding Week, both now as a newly minted IBCLC, and seven years ago when I first became a breastfeeding mom — long before I knew I would completely change careers to become a lactation consultant. In 2019, I shared my thoughts about it in a social media post.
“In countries where breastfeeding is normalized and celebrated, mothers learn from their
own mothers and grandmothers. From their sisters and their friends. They often have
six, nine, 12 months off of work to focus on nourishing their babies and selves.
In America, we struggle in private. We hide our breasts and babies in public in shame. But also from other women and girls, who desperately need to see it, accept it, understand it. When we are just three months postpartum, our babies are ripped from our breast and replaced by loud milking machines that, even on a good day, remove only 60 percent of our milk.
We retreat into a spiral of self-doubt on Google: oversupply, undersupply, shallow latch, tongue and lip ties, mastitis and clogged ducts, supplements and drinks to increase supply. Our worth becomes measured not by the amazing job we do growing, birthing, and sustaining a tiny life, but by how much milk we produce. We are told breast is best but then made to feel bad about pumping during work hours. We are told not to pump too much, then quietly compare freezer stashes to random moms’ posts on exhausting Facebook groups.
I am forever grateful to have nursed [my daughter] for 14+ months. And I hope to have another nursling in a few years. But I’ve watched so many women struggle and wonder how it would be different if instead of #worldbreastfeedingweek, every day was just world breastfeeding day, lowercased. Accepted. Understood. Celebrated.”
Now in 2025, I still yearn for a world where breastfeeding is just as common as walking the dog.
Where women and parents have the pre- and postnatal support they need to confidently attempt breastfeeding, and an IBCLC at their disposal to help troubleshoot when it goes awry.
Where birthing and supporting parents alike are granted a year-plus of leave to heal, adjust, and learn how to do this whole parenting thing.
Where passersby don’t ogle an exposed breast and moms don’t tear each other down over their feeding choices.
Where a tired, vulnerable parent can walk into the pediatrician’s office without being immediately confronted by a table of formula samples and zero information about breastfeeding.
Where there is no need for a week of breastfeeding awareness, because everyone is already aware.
Of course, in many places this is the norm. Just not here, in the United States.
Change feels insurmountable. And it will certainly take more than seven days. So what can you and I do about it?
Invest in lactation education before you have your baby. Insurance usually covers this. And if they don’t, there are lots of virtual, in-person, and self-guided options available for all budgets.
Read up on breastmilk and why it’s the ideal nourishment for babies. Know your options for donor milk if breastfeeding isn’t possible for you.
Choose a baby-friendly hospital if you’re choosing a hospital birth. While this won’t guarantee success, you’ll at least benefit from an emphasis on skin-to-skin, room-sharing, and early lactation intervention.
Breastfeed in public. This is your right and it’s protected by law. Not breastfeeding? Stand up for someone else if you witness them being made to feel bad about it.
Breastfeed in private. It’s just as important for your friends and family members to see you breastfeed, even if it feels a little weird at first.
Talk about breastfeeding. To your coworkers and bosses, to your physicians, to your Facebook groups. Share the good. Share the bad. Share what helped you so you can help others. Just merely talking about breastfeeding normalizes it.
Build a supportive community. Doulas, IBCLCs, SLPs, OTs, PTs, dentists, ENTs, chiropractors, midwives, OB/GYNs, and pediatricians — every single professional you interact with during your pregnancy and after your baby is born influences your decisions. When your support team is well-informed about breastfeeding, you’re more likely to succeed at it.
Together, we can move the needle — and free the nipple. Join me.
Rachel is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and certified Child Passenger Safety Technician dedicated to equipping families with the education they need to make the best decisions for their babies. After 15 years in corporate marketing, Rachel was called to change her career path after her personal experiences with birth and breastfeeding. She delivers in-home lactation care so moms and parents can be comfortable in their own spaces as they work to navigate the early days and months of breastfeeding. A friend to all, Rachel aims to empower parents at their most vulnerable with a warm, empathetic approach — which is why she calls herself The Mom BFF. She’s based in Naperville.
www.themombff.com