Genesee County Health Department

Better Life Through Better Health

Contact person: DeAnne Polen

Sara Harvey

Genesee County Health Department

Phone: (810) 257-3617 ext. 4050

RE: Breastfeeding Awareness Event at Flint Farmers Market

On Thursday, August 2^nd and 9^th, in celebration of Michigan Breastfeeding month, the Genesee County Health Department’s Woman Infant and Children’s (WIC) Program and Michigan State University (MSU) Extension will be promoting Breastfeeding Awareness at the Flint City Farmers Market. Pregnant moms, families, and community members can learn more about the advantages of breastfeeding and how to support mothers in this feeding choice. A breastfeeding representative from the WIC Program and a peer counselor from MSU Extension will be available from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm each day to answer questions regarding breastfeeding. Participant will receive incentives, valuable breastfeeding information, and a chance to win prizes.

According to medical experts, breastfeeding is the single best source for infant nutrition. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through it’s Healthy People 2010 Initiative, established a national breastfeeding objective of increasing the number of mothers who breastfeed their newborns to seventy five percent, and fifty percent for mothers who continue to breastfeed until their babies are five or six months old.

Thirty percent of mothers currently enrolled in the Genesee County WIC Program breastfeed their newborns, while only four percent continue to breastfeed until their babies are five or six months of age. It is hoped that increasing awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding, joined with the support of the community, will lead not only to an increase in the number of mothers who choose to breastfeed, but also to an increase in the length of time mothers continue to breastfeed their children.