Expecting Models' Jessica Hebert helps spread the word about World Breastfeeding Week
by Birgitta Lauren, Celebrity Fitness Trainer, of Expecting Fitness
Expecting Models’ Jessica Hebert is helping Stork Magazine promote this awarenessweek with her new baby Luna, 3 months. Posing nude on the cover of the August issue, Jessica told Stork that though neither she nor her partner were breastfed themselves, it was important to them that their child be breastfed.
[My partner Marcus] was 100% for breastfeeding and I am so grateful to him for doing a lot of research in advance… Marcus’ support was and continues to be invaluable.
Jessica also spent time with her best friend who was nursing to get familiar with the process and says,
We have had noproblems, I still can’t believe nothing has gone wrong. I breastfeedanywhere and everywhere.
Visit Stork Magazine for the interview with Jessica, who said,
Ohhh, it has been the most wonderful thing for us…when she looks up andstares into my eyes. It’s the most heart-warming and comfortable thingfor me.
Highlighting the importance of protectingbreastfeeding, especially in the first hour after birth, is the theme forWorld Breastfeeding Week 2007, observed August 1-7 and supported by theWorld Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. This year’s theme,"Breastfeeding: The First Hour – Welcome Baby Softly," focuses on theimportance of early closeness between mother and baby. Breastfeeding in thefirst hour or so after birth has been linked to positive outcomes, includingprotection from the bacteria and viruses the baby may be exposed to andimproved milk production and less blood loss in the mother.
This annualobservance is marked in over 120 countries around the world. For moreinformation and to download free materials, go to www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org. Initiation of breastfeeding within the1st hour of birth is also the first and most vital step towards reducinginfant and under-five mortality, by reducing the overwhelmingly highneonatal mortality rate: Begin breastfeeding within the 1st hour of birth!
Breastfeeding is your first parenting opportunity and while the initialstruggles may, indeed, be transient, the relationship is deeply profound forboth you and your child. It warrants being as prepared for this experienceas you are for childbirth. Taking your prenatal vitaminsand eating healthy is more importantthan ever while nursing. Breastfeeding in public is getting more and morecommon and I will never forget watching California’s current First Lady,Maria Shriver, some years back nurse her son during lunch in the middle of aBeverly Hills restaurant. We have come a long way for the sake of babies.
Expecting Fitness‘sBirgitta Lauren is a pre- and post-natal certified trainer to thestars, working with pregnant women in and around the Los Angeles areabut is also available for consultation via phone and email.
