Hip Mama's Place Celebrates Breastfeeding Awareness Month 2009

As a mother, one of the most important things you can do is to breastfeed your baby. While there are other options to feed your baby, breastfeeding seems to be the best choice that can offer many great health benefits for both you and your baby.

This year's theme for World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is: "Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response. Are you ready?". WBW is the greatest outreach vehicle for the breastfeeding movement that's celebrated yearly in over 120 countries. In the U.S., WBW officially started last August 1st and will last through August 7th, 2009.

OBJECTIVES OF WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK 2009:

* To draw attention to the vital role that breastfeeding plays in emergencies worldwide.
* To stress the need for active protection and support of breastfeeding before and during emergencies.
* To inform mothers, breastfeeding advocates, communities, health professionals, governments, aid agencies, donors, and the media on how they can actively support breastfeeding before and during an emergency.
* To mobilise action and nurture networking and collaboration between those with breastfeeding skills and those involved in emergency response.

If you want to find out about local events in your area related to the World Breastfeeding Week celebrations or to find support groups, check out La Leche League in the USA's website and click on your specific state.

Here on Hip Mama's Place, we celebrate the National Breastfeeding Awareness Month with lots of fun and excitement! :)

First, I've compiled a list of helpful articles and links to help raise awareness on why breastfeeding is important to both mother and child. Personally, I have breast-fed my now four year old and two year old boys. To me, there is no better milk for a baby than her own mother's milk. It's a special gift from a mother to her child and I'm glad I gave my children this special gift when they were babies.

*Resources for Breastfeeding Help:

-An Easy Guide to Breastfeeding, Free Downloadable Publication from WomensHealth.gov
-Benefits of Breastfeeding, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
-Helpful Breastfeeding Resources, ENNOnline.net (Emergency Nutrition Network)
-Infant and Young Child Feeding List of Publications, World Health Organization
-101 Reasons to Breastfeed Your Child, ProMom.org
-Proper Positioning and Latch, La Leche League International

And what's an event without some fun giveaways? Thanks to our very generous sponsors- I got fantastic prizes in store for you all! :)

*Hip Mama's Place Giveaway List:

- Mama Mio Bootcamp for Boobs Skincare Kit ($99 Value)
- The Essential Breastfeeding Log Book
- Melinda G Beautiful Soft-Cup Nursing Bra (not available in size va-va-voom)
- Melinda G Tee-Shirt Soft-Cup Nursing Bra
- Boob Design Summer Paisley Nursing Dress (in Small size only)
- Bebe au Lait Nursing Cover and Matching Burp Cloths Gift Set ($50 Value in your choice of fabric)
- Blush Topless Undershirt of your choice of color and size
- Belli Motherhood Pure Comfort Nursing Cream (US addresses only)
- Belli Skincare Body Firming Serum (US addresses only)
- momAgenda 2009-2010 Desktop Planner (in Fuchsia)
- Swarovski Crystal Bracelet from Belly Charms (Valued at $50)
- PishPosh Mommy Pull-String Purse in the Lombard Swirl Fabric
- Baby Bump Body Polish
- Baby Bump 2 and 1 Face Mask & Scrub
- Kid's Safety ID Bracelet of your color choice from Vital IDs from Belly Charms

*Hip Mama's Place CONTEST RULES:

This contest is open to US and Canada residents only, unless specified on the prize. Bloggers and non-bloggers are all welcome to enter. Winners will be picked using Random.org and will be announced as a separate post on Hip Mama's Place on August 18th, 2009. Goodluck!

To enter to win the giveaways listed under "Hip Mama's Place Giveaway List", simply enter a comment with the following information:

1. Pick three (3) top choices of prizes you'd like to win from the giveaway list
2. Email address to contact you in case you win
3. OPTIONAL: Mention extra entries you may have done for greater chances of winning! (See the EXTRA ENTRIES section below).

*PLEASE NOTE: You are welcome to list your name on the MckLinky below this post, but it is not required. Unless you're currently hosting a contest or giveaway on your blog or website that you'd like to list for promotion, then by all means- please do so.

*EXTRA ENTRIES FOR HIP MAMA'S PLACE GIVEAWAYS: You can do one, two, or all of the following for greater chances of winning!

1. Grab a badge of the HMP Breastfeeding Awareness Month 2009 event below and post it on your blog sidebar for the duration of this event (August 4th-17th, 2009). Simply copy the code below your chosen badge size and copy it on an HTML page on your blog sidebar to help spread the word.

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.hipmamasplace.com/"><br/><br/><img border="0" width="150" alt="LrgImOnHipMama" src="http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t19/hipmama12/HMPbreastfeedingbuton150x150copy.jpg" height="150"/></a>

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.hipmamasplace.com/"><br/><br/><img border="0" width="120" alt="LrgImOnHipMama" src="http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t19/hipmama12/HMPbreastfeedingbuton120x240copy.jpg" height="240"/></a>

2. Tweet this event on Twitter with a direct link to this URL page:
http://www.hipmamasplace.com/2009/08/hip-mamas-place-celebrates.html

3. Mention this giveaway on your Facebook (again using the URL page address above)

4. Write a short post about this giveaway event on your blog linking to our home page or the URL page address above

5. Follow Hip Mama's Place on Twitter


6. Become a Fan of Hip Mama's Place on Facebook


*LINK UP/LIST YOUR CONTESTS, COUPONS, AND BREASTFEEDING ARTICLES

Are you currently running a contest or giveaway on your blog or website? Do you have a helpful article related to breastfeeding that you want to share? Or do you have money-saving coupons, freebies or online deals for family-friendly products that you'd like to share with the moms here on HMP? Go ahead and link them up on MckLinky below! We all love deals and freebies, don't we? :)
Optional: Please help me spread the word about this important event by posting the HMP Breastfeeding Awareness Month 2009 badge on your blog sidebar or website. I will appreciate it very much. :)

Please follow this format when posting on MckLinky:


Hip Mama's Place- Mama Mio Bootcamp for Boobs Kit- Ends 8/18
Hip Mama's Place- (Title of Your Breastfeeding Article)

Thank you so much for all your participation. Have fun entering contests and go say hello to new blogging friends you meet here today! :)

Hip Mama's Place Celebrates Breastfeeding Awareness Month 2009

http://www.hipmamasplace.com/2009/08/hip-mamas-place-celebrates.html