County Commission
On Monday, April 12, 2021 at 7:00 pm during the Regular Session meeting of the Durham County Commissioners, Durham County was re-proclaimed a Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community. The public and other County staff viewed the meeting on the DCo website, DTN Channel 8 and on the County’s YouTube Channel. Click here to view the Agenda Link.
City Council
At the Durham City Council meeting on Monday, April 19, 2021 at 7:00 pm, Mayor Schewel re-proclaimed Durham a Breastfeeding Friendly City. Love Anderson from Breastfeed Durham was there to receive the proclamation and give three-minute remarks.
Text of the 2021 Proclamation
| PROCLAMATION “BREASTFEEDING FAMILY FRIENDLY COMMUNITY” WHEREAS, families are a priority in {town, city}, and part of helping families to thrive is ensuring that they receive community support to develop and sustain healthy lifestyles; and WHEREAS, The American Academy of Pediatrics “…affirms its recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for about 6 months, followed by continued breastfeeding as complementary foods are introduced, with [the] continuation of breastfeeding for 1 year or longer as mutually desired by mother and infant”; and WHEREAS, The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology states that “Obstetrician–gynecologists and other obstetric care providers should support women and encourage policies that enable women to integrate breastfeeding into their daily lives and in the workplace”; and WHEREAS, according to the American Dietetic Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, and other leading health organizations, breastfeeding and human milk is the optimal way to feed infants; and WHEREAS, breastfeeding is associated with lower rates of childhood illness, such as obesity, diabetes, and infectious diseases, as well as reduced risk of maternal breast and ovarian cancers and faster recovery from childbirth as compared to formula feeding; and WHEREAS, breastfeeding has been shown to promote social-emotional development, benefits the entire family, and is associated with lifelong health and development; and WHEREAS, a parent’s decision to feed human milk to infants directly or through expression should be supported by family members and the community; and WHEREAS, promoting best practices in human milk feeding for healthcare providers and clinics to encourage families to start and continue to feed human milk; and WHEREAS, creating a local Breastfeeding Friendly Child Care designation supports the parent’s continued breastfeeding with expressing milk after returning to work or school; and WHEREAS, encouraging our local education systems to include breastfeeding and human milk feeding curricula at all levels normalizes breastfeeding; and WHEREAS, collaborating on community resources and building community awareness can positively impact breastfeeding success; and WHEREAS, our community is proud to have attained broad support, and direct community actions including: The Durham County Health Department, Chamber of Commerce, Community Health Workers, Lactation support providers, Community advocates; and WHEREAS, by providing a supportive and welcoming environment, a breastfeeding friendly community encourages families of all races, ethnicities, family structures to initiate and continue optimal infant feeding/nursing; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that I, {name of Mayor}, Mayor of the Town}, do hereby proclaim the Town } to be a “Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community.”View Example of Proclamation |