The World Health Organization is inviting all members of society to renew their commitment and responsibility to create supportive environments for exclusive breastfeeding. The baby shower which is known to be an important event in many cultures, is one setting that is full of opportunities to support a mother’s choice to breastfeed.
Truly inspired by this, we have created a unique online resource for planning a breastfeeding friendly baby shower. Our Resourse focuses on ways to celebrate breastfeeding, unlike the few online resources that are more about what not to do. There is a section for Games, Gifts, Menu Items, and General information about throwing a breastfeeding posititive party before or after babe arrives. This resource can be used by the family and friends of a breastfeeding mother, who are looking to provide an alternative to the traditional baby shower. It includes fun and creative ways to celebrate her choice, provide education, and generate effective support that promotes breastfeeding as a biologically normal and healthy practice.
Currently when you search “baby shower” on the internet most of the games and projects suggested for baby showers is centred on bottles and non-breast nutrition. So many of the games are geared to artificial human milk feeding, guessing numbers of bottles, and offering gifts like formula, pacifiers and not to focus on transfering breastfeeding skills within the community.
Ultimately, the goal of this resource is to help bring breastfeeding into the open and into public conversation; hopefully, helping to stimulate a reversal in the trends that encourage bottle feeding as an easy and accessible solution. We also aimed to highlight one setting where a mother’s community can have an influence on her choice to breastfeed, as well as her success in establishing a breastfeeding relationship with her baby.
We encourage you to share in this responsibility. Please check out our site and feel free to share your breastfeeding friendly shower ideas, successes, images and stories.
