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| Breastfeeding Resources |
What is the Portland Breastfeeding Campaign?
The Portland Breastfeeding Campaign is modeled after a campaign conducted in Marin County, CA in January 2009. The tag line for the campaign is “when breastfeeding is accepted it won’t be noticed” and features life-sized cutouts of women breastfeeding. The six cutouts will rotate through different locations in the city each day for one week, starting August 3rd, 2009.
Who is involved in this campaign?
This campaign is spearheaded by the City of Portland Health & Human Services Department, Public Health Division, Healthy Portland (a local Healthy Maine Partnership), as well as the following organizations:
Birth Roots
Maine Medical Center
MaineHealth
PROP
Where can I find these life-sized cutouts?
During the week of August 3rd, World Breastfeeding Week, the cutouts will be placed in public places throughout the City of Portland. Some confirmed locations are:
·
Alive at 5 in Monument Square - August 6th
·
Artist & Craftsman Store
·
Baystock Music Festival (Maine State Pier)
·
Bell Buoy Park (near Casco Bay Lines ferry terminal)
·
City Hall Rotunda
·
Congress Square Park- August 7th Noon Concert
·
Deering Oak’s Kids Concert - August 6th
·
Farmer’s Market in Monument Square - August 5th
·
First Friday Artwalk- Congress St
·
International Family Festival- Payson Park
·
Maine Medical Center (main lobby)
·
Mercy Hospital (Fore River Location)
· Ms. Lulu’s Boutique
·
Post Office Park
·
Portland Lobster Company
·
PROP Offices
·
Quality Shop
·
Rosemont Bakery (Munjoy Hill location)
·
United Way of Greater Portland
For a complete list, click here.
What is the Goal of the Portland Breastfeeding Campaign?
· To increase the number of babies being breastfeed. The Healthy People 2010 goal is to improve breastfeeding rates to 50% at six months of age. In Maine only 41.2% of babies were breastfed at six months.· To encourage and promote breastfeeding in public. Maine Revised Statuses title 5, § 4634 (2001) amends the Maine Human Rights Act to declare that a mother has the right to breastfeed her baby in any location, whether public or private, as long as she is otherwise authorized to be in that location. (Me. Laws, Chap. 206; LD 1396)
· To promote LD 373 An Act to Facilitate Lactation at the Workplace by New Mothers. This Maine law goes into effect on September 12th, 2009 and states that an employer shall provide adequate unpaid break time or permit an employee to use paid break time or meal time each day to express breast milk for her nursing child. The employer shall make reasonable efforts to provide a clean room or other location, other than a bathroom, where an employee may express breast milk in privacy. An employer may not discriminate in any way against an employee who chooses to express breast milk in the workplace.
· To make mothers aware of the breastfeeding resources available to them in Portland. This may be in the form of support groups, informational materials or professional lactation consultants.
For more information please contact Kristen Dow at healthyportland@portlandmaine.gov or 207-874-8618.