Rush Archives Blog

From the Rush Archives: Celebrating World Breastfeeding Week (first week of August)

The first week of August is World Breastfeeding Week!

Coordinated by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action and working in partnership with organizations such as UNICEF and WHO, this campaign aims to inform, anchor, engage and galvanize action on breastfeeding and related issues.

World Breastfeeding Week was first organized in 1992. Preceding 1992, however, Rush was already promoting awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding by recognizing Breastfeeding Promotion Month, which was in May. 

The June 1990 issue of the Rush newsletter, NewsRounds*, featured this piece: "A breastfeeding promotion was held outside the cafeteria on May 24 to let staff and patients know that lactation consultants are available not only on the perinatal units but in instances when nursing mothers are hospitalized for injuries or serious illness. Interested parents -- even one prospective father -- stopped at the booth to ask questions and gather brochures on the benefits of breastfeeding for newborns."

CAPTION: At the breastfeeding promotional booth are: (front, l to r) Todd Steckbar, RN; nursing student Debi Savage; Angela Jacobi, MN, RN, maternal child nursing; student Kristin Greener, (back): student Kitty Thomas; Julie Daraubis, RN, IBCLC, and Virginia Caporelli, RN, IBCLC, both of maternal child nursing; and students Deneen Banker, Kara Wallin and Gwen Bohlke. 

To learn more about Breastfeeding Support at Rush today, visit the following page: http://www.rush.edu/services-treatments/family-birth-center/breastfeeding-support-rush-university-medical-center

For more about World Breastfeeding Week, visit the WABA site here: https://waba.org.my/wbw/

And, as always, to learn more about the history of Rush or the Rush Archives collections, please visit our website or contact the archivist, Nathalie Wheaton, MSLS.

*Featured in NewsRounds, June 1990. From the NewsRounds Collection, #4719, Rush University Medical Center Archives, Chicago, Ill: https://archive.org/details/newsrounds19901990rush/page/n59/mode/2up