MISSION: To protect and promote breastfeeding on the El Paso/Juárez border as the natural and expected means of feeding human infants. • MISIÓN: Proteger y promover la lactancia en la frontera El Paso/Juárez como el medio natural y esperado de alimentar a los infantes humanos.
Members of the First Food Cohort
The Centers for Social Inclusion and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation invite BBC members to join the First Food Racial Equity Cohort and First Food Forum in Washington, DC.
Read MoreThe Healthy Texas Babies initiative was developed to help Texas communities decrease infant mortality using evidence-based interventions. It involves community stakeholders, healthcare providers, and health care administrators. A reduction in infant mortality will improve the health of Texas babies and mothers and has the potential to save millions of dollars in healthcare costs. The conference, which was held on June 22-24, was centered on the Life Course Perspective and the information and practices health professionals need to improve birth outcomes and maternal health. There were two tracks, Clinical and Community/CHW, available to attendees to facilitate discussion and connection with their peers.
Adriana Corona Luevanos, Texas Department of State Health Services - Region 9/10, Office of Border Health and BBC member presented the "Binational Breastfeeding Coalition: The Border Experiences." Participants were able to identify potential organizations in order to work bi-nationally in the area of breastfeeding. They also learned about traditional and non-traditional partners working together to create a support network to empower women to breastfeed. The Binational Breastfeeding Coalition experience encouraged the audience to think outside the box in creating a culture of breastfeeding.
The 5th Annual National Breastfeeding Coalition Conference took place in Arlington Virginia on August 2- 4, 2004, this years conference theme was “Transforming Barriers into Bridges”. The Binational Breastfeeding Coalition (BBC) had the privilege of winning an abstract to present at this breastfeeding forum.
The Binational Breastfeeding Coalition presented at the meeting as a breakout session in a panel titled Cultural Perspectives in Breastfeeding Support. The presentation center in providing the audience with an insight of what’s it like to work along the US- Mexico Border, what are the barriers, how to overcome them as well as the advantages of working between borders.
The presentation included a summary of coalition activities to create support networks for breastfeeding mothers such as: Mother Friendly Establishments, Mother Friendly Worksites, Baby Cafes and Mother Friendly Hospitals (Hospital amigo del niño y de la madre and Milk Banks in our counterparts in Mexico); creating breastfeeding awareness with the Big Latch On, Stroller-thons and community outreach. The Coalition is also committed to increase breastfeeding research and policy changes.
Participation in this event broadens our opportunity to network with other coalitions. We would like to thank the Texas Breastfeeding Coalition for providing the funds and making it possible for the BBC to be part of this conference and continue to collectively work in changing the Breastfeeding Culture in this country and beyond.