Letter: Join Breastfeeding Challenge at Ink Spell Books, Oct 11

All breastfeeding moms and their supporters are invited to join the Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge at Ink Spell Books on Saturday, Oct 11 at 10:45am. Ink Spell is at 500 Purissima St., Half Moon Bay.  We’ll also be unveiling the Breastfeeding support Logo at the bookstore.

Join us to celebrate breastfeeding in a fun "competition" where every child "wins" because they are breastfed! This fun event is a challenge for which geographic area has the most breastfeeding babies, as a percentage of the birthrate, "latched on." at 11am local time.

We’re celebrating breastfeeding and demonstrate promotion, protection and support for breastfeeding women and their families. It’s a chance for education and peer support done in a fun social way.

The local event is sponsored by Sara Russell and Chris Pritchard, of mama to mama, a doula service, and Cindi Whittemore of Ink Spell Books.  Doulas are women who help laboring women and postpartum women with the transition into motherhood.  Doulas offer breastfeeding support, newborn care and family support just before birth and for the weeks and months after the arrival of a newborn.

"I’m excited to help promote this event by using our bookstore.  We are a family friendly place and that includes welcoming breastfeeding moms.  We’ve got lots of big comfy chairs for them to come in anytime for a quiet place to nurse their babes," said Cindi Whittemore owner of Ink Spell Books.

"Its important for moms and families to know the importance of breastfeeding not only for the baby’s nutritional well being but for the baby’s emotional and developmental well-being.  We now have evidence that supports that breastfeeding helps babies develop the neurological connections in the brain that are so vital for development," said Chris Pritchard, doula, nurse, and organizer of the event.

"In recent years breastfeeding moms have experienced problems breastfeeding their babies in public.  I want Half Moon Bay to be known as a place where we have businesses that support of moms and babes," said Sara Russell, postpartum doula and organizer of the event.  "To that end, we’ll be unveiling the Breastfeeding Support logo at the store, a logo developed through Mothering magazine and designed for businesses to hang in their windows to show their support for breastfeeding moms at their business." 

Breastfeeding Logo Info: http://www.mothering.com/sections/action_alerts/iconcontest/icon-winner.html

We’ve invited local moms and moms from the peninsula and San Francisco.

All breastfeeding moms and their families and supporters are welcome to attend and be counted!

For more information please contact Sara Russell, 490-0914 or Chris Pritchard, 728-3950.

Quintessence Foundation: http://www.babyfriendly.ca/

Background: The Breastfeeding Challenge is coordinated by the Quintessence Foundation.  In 2001 when this event started, there were 856 babies at 26 sites in British Columbia, Canada. Last year there were 5,383 babies at 230 sites across Canada and the US. This year we would love to see that number increase dramatically.  For more information go to: http://www.babyfriendly.ca/