By the Breastfeed Durham Team
Eighty-eight. That is how many Durham businesses and organizations have been recognized as breastfeeding family friendly so far in 2026. It is the best number we have ever had, and the year is not over.
Sixty-seven of those came from one person in one summer. Nikki Bronson, an MPH candidate at UNC Gillings, spent her field placement going door to door, 15 to 30 businesses a day. She wrote about what that taught her here.
The recognition itself is simple. A business tells us how they welcome breastfeeding families, we list them on our website, and they get a Breastfeeding Welcome Here cling for the window. Some go further and earn the Employer & Community Partner Award for how they support their own staff. And our Community Choice Award lets community members nominate the places that make them feel at home.
New this year: high chairs and changing stations. We started giving restaurants the gear that makes it easy to say yes to families. Nikki assembled the first set herself (“an embarrassingly long time,” she reports) and delivered them to Lakewood Social on Chapel Hill Road, where the Breastfeeding Welcome Here cling was already in the window.Across all years, 391 Durham businesses and organizations are now recognized, and our goal is 700. This fall, our two new Community Outreach and Recruitment Fellows, Jackie Feliciano and Antoinette Fair, aim to visit five to ten businesses a week. If they walk into yours, say yes.
See every recognized business: https://breastfeeddurham.org/durhams-ten-steps/breastfeeding-welcome-here/
Nominate a favorite: https://breastfeeddurham.org/community-choice-award/