Suckers! Its a record already!

This Friday’s Big Latch On has already broken records with 170 breastfeeding mothers and their babies registered to latch on at Hoyts cinema at Sylvia Park on Friday. ‘This is the biggest number of women who have ever got together in one place to breastfeed in New Zealand’ says organiser Jo Fitzpatrick. ‘ Previous records were about half this number with 76 at Lynmall in 2005 and 83 at the Zoo in 2006.’ They will be joined by women at around 90 venues throughout the country from Whangarei in the North to Invercargill in the South. ‘ Last year we broke the New Zealand record with 1122 women breastfeeding together throughout the country, and we think we are on track to break that record as venue organisers seem to be expecting more people this year’ says Jo ‘ but we never really know until after the event.’

Women’s Health Action provides national co-ordination for the event, which is organised by mothers and their supporters throughout the country. Every year for the last five years, during World Breastfeeding Week (August 1st to August 7th) , Women’s Health Action has hosted the ‘Big Latch On’ for communities across the country in an attempt to break the record for women simultaneously breastfeeding. 654 mothers joined the first BLO in 2005 and by 2007, almost 1000 mothers participated. Last year saw 1122 mothers all taking part and New Zealand won a gold medal for participation from the World Alliance of Breastfeeding Action. (WABA)

World Breastfeeding Week 2009 got off to a great start this week with 100 people marching in Gisborne to support a woman’s right to feed her baby when they are out and about together. It was a march organised by local women outraged after being told breastfeeding in public was illegal. They were supported by the Human Rights Commission and by their local Mayor , Meng Foon.

‘ We hope World Breastfeeding Week will end with a bang as well.’ Says Jo Fitzpatrick. ‘It’s not too late to be part of the action!’ Details of local venues and on-line registration is available at: http://www.womens-health.org.nz/