DOH-Miami-Dade’s 5th Annual Breastfeeding Awareness Walk kicks-off National Breastfeeding Awareness Month
August 1, 2016 Contact: Miami, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County WIC Program and Healthy Start Coalition of Miami-Dade will host the 5th Annual Breastfeeding Awareness Walk at Amelia Earhart Park, 401 E. 65th Street, Hialeah, FL 33013 on Saturday, August 6th, from 8:00am – 12:00pm. August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month and an opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of breastfeeding and the need for breastfeeding-friendly policies in the workplace. The Healthy Start Coalition of Miami-Dade will raffle a free car seat every 30 minutes. Families will be able to visit with local vendors, enjoy music, bounce houses, face painting, Zumba and yoga classes, win giveaway prizes, enter into raffles for gift certificates to family-friendly restaurants and tickets to attractions around the city. There will be a healthy, fun and interactive food demonstration byShort Chef and seminars on breastfeeding, pumping, baby wearing, infant massage and car seat safety will be scheduled throughout the day. This year’s walk will also serve as an official site for The Big Latch On http://biglatchon.org/ hosted by Natural Birthworks, a co-op of birthworkers united in one space to provide many types of holistic care in the community. The Big Latch On is a global initiative and synchronized breastfeeding event, where scores of mothers around the world breastfeed in public together for one minute in order to raise awareness and offer peer support to one another. There are only a few sites hosting this event in our city. The Breastfeeding Walk’s central location and surrounding event will help increase our numbers in South Florida and will show the world that we are truly supporting breastfeeding in our community. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children - better known as the WIC Program - serves to safeguard the health of low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating including breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to health care. For more information about the WIC Program at the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County please visit www.FloridaWIC.org or call (786) 336-1300 for WIC appointments and (786) 336-1336 for breastfeeding assistance. About the Florida Department of Health The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts. Follow us on Twitter at @HealthyFla and on Facebook. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov. About Healthy Start The Healthy Start Coalition of Miami-Dade (HSCMD) is a community-based non-profit organization designated by the State of Florida Department of Health to serve as Miami-Dade County’s prenatal and infant care coalition. HSCMD partners with local community-based organizations and healthcare professionals to plan, coordinate and provide high quality health and education services to women of childbearing age, children to age three, and their families. For more information, please visit www.hscmd.org. |