Our local WIC program rented a booth and set up a nursing corner at the
local week-long county agricultural fair.  This  World Breastfeeding Week
project is the brain child of our amazing peer counselors ("PC").  It was a
great success!  We created a lovely,  shady corner with a rocker, changing
table, stool & fan.  More than 25 moms used this space to feed and change
their babies!! We also made available over 400 sip cups with our state WIC
BF logo, pamphlets, etc.   We posted a large sign made by a PC showing the
money saved for each month of breastfeeding.  Many people stopped to read
and remark on this (notably women who said to their partner, "See how much
money I saved us!," and teens who simply said "W O W !")

Most surprising to me was the open amusement expressed by several
middle-aged men regarding our WIC bumper stickers:  "Breast Milk for
Babies, Cows Milk for Calves," and "Travel Light...Breastfeed!"  Several
gentlemen requested a bumper sticker to put on their car, camper, boat,
race car....

A large number of people who stopped by to talk to us about breastfeeding
-- primarily to tell their story. The stories were poignant, happy,
triumphant, and sad,  with the usual sprinkling of tragically incorrect "I
had to quit BF because I needed to take an acetaminophen, etc"  stories.
The collection of stories I heard reminded me  that people really need to
tell their breastfeeding stories, even for decades, until they are fully
integrated.

I heard NO negative comments about breastfeeding, only warm, delighted
acceptance.  I left the fair on the final day thinking that breastfeeding
IS becoming the cultural norm....  We may be riding the crest of this wave,
my friends!!!

 ******* Cindy Turner-Maffei, MA, IBCLC, aka [log in to unmask] *******