World Breastfeeding Awareness Week Aims to Combat Stigma

It’s World Breastfeeding Awareness Week around the globe. According to health officials, it’s a week to make the public aware of the benefits of breastfeeding for newborn babies as well as the mother.

While breastfeeding has been around for ages, there is still a stigma around breastfeeding in public and in the workforce – a stigma Essentia Health is aiming to eliminate.

Workplaces around the area are also combating the stigma, including CTC in Baxter, which has a Wellness Room that allows employees to breastfeed in a private setting.

Paulette Thoeness, the Crow Wing Energized Workplace Wellness Co-Chair, says there are benefits to having Wellness Rooms for both mother and employer.

According to Essentia Health, mothers are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. labor force and approximately 70% of employed mothers with children age three or younger work full-time.