This email came in today from the US Breastfeeding Council. Please take action if you can:

On Monday, the Supporting Working Moms Act of 2013 (SWMA) was introduced in both houses of Congress! SWMA would protect and expand working moms’ right to breastfeed by extending the existing federal law to ensure that an additional 11.5 million executive, administrative, and professional employees, including elementary and secondary school teachers, have break time and a private place to pump in the workplace.

A sincere thank you to co-sponsors Senator Jeff Merkley (OR), Senator Tom Harkin (IA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA), and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY) for championing this important bill! To let them know just how much we appreciate their efforts, we’d like to flood the Twittersphere with messages. Show your support by joining the conversation at hashtag #SWMA13 or simply copy and paste the sample tweets below.

Sample Tweets:

• Breaking News! The Supporting Working Moms Act has been introduced in the Senate and House: http://ow.ly/l318d
• Thanks to @SenJeffMerkley, @RepMaloney, @SenatorHarkin, and @SenWarren for leading the charge in support of #SWMA13 and #WorkingMoms
• Because teachers shouldn’t have to choose between #breastfeeding and their students, I support #SWMA13: http://ow.ly/l326K
• The Supporting Working Moms Act is good for families, business, and the economy. Where do your legislators stand? #SWMA13
• The Supporting Working Moms Act would make #breastfeeding possible for an additional 11.5 million #WorkingMoms #SWMA13
• 60% don’t reach their own #breastfeeding goal, but laws that guarantee #BFing breaks at work can change it http://ow.ly/l33km #SWMA13

A recent study from Australia reported that if a father was educated and supported about breastfeeding both pre and post natally, the breastfeeding rates went up. I wonder what would happen if we educated and supported every family, extended family member or community?

Pass it on!

	J Hum Lact. 2013 Apr 19. [Epub ahead of print] Education and Support for Fathers Improves Breastfeeding Rates: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Maycock B, Binns CW, Dhaliwal S, Tohotoa J, Hauck Y, Burns S, Howat P. 1School of Public Health and Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Australia. Abstract Background:Studies have identified numerous factors affecting breastfeeding initiation and duration, including maternal education, mode of delivery, birth weight, socioeconomic status, and support of the infant’s father.Objective:The objective was to investigate the effects of an antenatal education session and postnatal support targeted to fathers.Methods:The Fathers Infant Feeding Initiative (FIFI Study) is a randomized controlled trial to increase the initiation and duration of breastfeeding that was conducted in 8 public maternity hospitals in Perth, Western Australia. A total of 699 couples were randomized within hospitals to either intervention or control groups. The intervention consisted of a 2-hour antenatal education session and postnatal support provided to fathers.Results:The any breastfeeding rate for the intervention group was significantly greater at 6 weeks: 81.6% in the intervention group compared to 75.2% in the control group, odds ratio 1.46 (95% CI, 1.01-2.13). After adjustment for age and hospital, the odds ratio for any breastfeeding in the intervention group was 1.58 (1.06-2.35) and for socioeconomic status (SES), 1.56 (1.06-2.30). The infants of older fathers were more likely to be breastfed at 6 weeks compared to infants of younger fathers (P < .01), and infants of fathers with high SES more likely than infants of fathers with low SES (P = .013).Conclusion:Even a small increase in breastfeeding rates brings public health benefits. In this study, a minimal intervention was found to significantly increase any breastfeeding at 6 weeks: 81.6% in the intervention group compared to 75.2% in the control group.
	PMID: 23603573 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]