The Cole County Health Department has started a breastfeeding awareness campaign by placing life-size pictures of breastfeeding mothers in community buildings and local businesses.
The pictures, or standees, were unveiled at a press conference on Wednesday morning in Jefferson City. The project is a part of the Cole County Breastfeeding Coalition's (CCBC) mission to improve the community breastfeeding infrastructure. The CCBC was formed in 2010.
"We should be perfectly comfortable with women breastfeeding in public," said Melinda Ridenhour, director of nutrition services for the Cole County Health Department. "These standees will be placed out in the community to raise awareness about breastfeeding, to support it and to show that breastfeeding is normal. You will find these ladies breastfeeding their babies at the Cole County Courthouse, Central Bank, Coffee Zone and the Southbank Gift Company."
Ridenhour also mentioned there will be an additional secret location for the standees, which makes the event akin to a "Where's Waldo" book. The standees will have a supplemental information that includes references for medical questions, breastfeeding classes and support groups.
"I think it is a great idea," said Sarah Wood of Central Bank. "It helps show our support for breastfeeding mothers. We are always there for the community, and this makes it a better place and a healthier place for the mothers and the babies."
Wood was one the representatives of the few businesses displaying the pictures. The majority of the models and the photographer for the project also attended the conference, along with officials of the Cole County Health Department.
"I am a huge breastfeeding supporter, and this was my small contribution to a great, great project," said Janelle Harris, of Janelle Harris Photography, who took the pictures. "I hope it really gets a lot of exposure and helps normalize breastfeeding. It is a great thing; it is great for the community, moms and babies. I think the more it is out there, and the more it is seen, the more accepted it will be and the better it will be for everybody."
Before the standees were unveiled, Ridenhour shared some statistics about the health factors surrounding the issue. She mentioned the American Academy of Pediatrics Breastfeeding Policy states a child should be breastfed for the first six months of life. She also said that a study in 2010 stated if 90 percent of U.S. families breastfed for the first six months it would save more than $13 billion per year and prevent more than 900 infant deaths.
"Breastfeeding benefits public health by decreasing infectious diseases, reducing infant mortality and preventing obesity long term," Ridenhour said. "In Cole County, about 70 percent of women initiate breastfeeding because they are well aware it is the healthiest choice. However, most are not still breastfeeding when their baby is 6 months old."
She also mentioned that returning to a non-supportive work environment is one of the contributing factors for the lack of continued breastfeeding. Some employers are unaware that within the 2010 Health Care Reform, a breastfeeding law requires employers to provide breaks to nursing mothers. Also because of an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act employers must provide a private location, other than a bathroom, for nursing mothers to "express milk."
"People don't understand that we shouldn't be telling women to go to the bathroom to feed their baby," Ridenhour said." That would be like me telling you to take your bread, bologna and mayonnaise and go to the bathroom and make your sandwich on the back of the toilet and then eat your sandwich in there."
Many mothers who have to return to work have to use breast pumps to save their milk for their child to consume later.
"It is hard to go back to work with a pump," said nursing mother Brittney Schaben, who was one of the models. "A lot of people who don't breastfeed don't know that a pump isn't like breastfeeding. It is a lot harder. Sometimes it may take an hour to pump, sometimes it is just 15 minutes. You can't really time it, so going back to work isn't really the ideal situation. But we have to work, so that is where it gets hard."
There is also a public breastfeeding law in Missouri that states a mother may breastfeed her child with discretion at any public or private location where she is authorized to be.
"In public I have gotten a lot of dirty looks," Schaben said. "I have people ask if I am comfortable or if I need to go somewhere else. I would just like to not be bothered."
Ridenhour has heard of women being escorted out of public places for breastfeeding and said the community needs to understand there is a law protecting them. She said she hopes her campaign will abate many of the problems of nursing mothers both at work and in public.