Every year, families, healthcare professionals, organizations, and communities around the world come together for World Breastfeeding Week.

Held from August 1–7, World Breastfeeding Week is an opportunity to recognize the importance of breastfeeding, raise awareness about the support breastfeeding families need, and talk openly about infant feeding.

Breastfeeding can be a deeply meaningful experience, but it doesn’t always look the same for every family. Some parents breastfeed exclusively, some combine breastfeeding with formula, some pump and provide breast milk in a bottle, and some are unable to breastfeed at all.

There is no single story.

World Breastfeeding Week is ultimately about making sure parents have access to support, accurate information, and the freedom to make informed decisions about feeding their babies.

What Is World Breastfeeding Week?

World Breastfeeding Week is an annual global campaign coordinated by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA).

The week takes place every year from August 1 through August 7 and focuses on different aspects of breastfeeding and infant feeding.

The campaign also connects with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, which have long promoted breastfeeding support as part of maternal and infant health initiatives.

World Breastfeeding Week can be marked in many ways, including educational events, community programs, healthcare initiatives, social media campaigns, and conversations between parents and healthcare providers.

Why Is Breastfeeding Important?

Breast milk provides babies with nutrients and other components that support growth and development. It also contains antibodies and other immune-related factors.

For parents who breastfeed, the experience can also provide opportunities for closeness and bonding.

However, breastfeeding is not simply an individual decision that happens in isolation.

A parent’s ability to breastfeed can be influenced by many circumstances, including access to healthcare, maternity leave, workplace policies, family support, access to lactation assistance, cultural expectations, and whether feeding difficulties are addressed.

That is why breastfeeding support matters.

Breastfeeding Doesn’t Always Come Easily

One of the most important things to remember during World Breastfeeding Week is that breastfeeding can be hard.

While breastfeeding is natural, that does not necessarily mean it is effortless.

New parents may encounter challenges such as:

• Difficulty with positioning or latch
• Sore or cracked nipples
• Engorgement
• Concerns about milk supply
• Pumping difficulties
• Returning to work
• Breastfeeding in public
• Feeding a premature or medically fragile baby
• Exhaustion and interrupted sleep
• Finding reliable breastfeeding information

Some parents may also discover that breastfeeding looks very different from what they imagined during pregnancy.

Needing help does not mean that someone has failed.

A lactation consultant, midwife, nurse, doctor, or other qualified healthcare professional may be able to help identify problems and provide individualized guidance.

Supporting Breastfeeding Parents Matters

Breastfeeding support shouldn’t fall entirely on the person holding the baby.

Partners, family members, employers, healthcare providers, and communities can all play a role.

Sometimes support is practical.

It might mean preparing a meal while a parent feeds the baby.

Alternatively, it might mean washing pump parts.

It might mean making sure a breastfeeding parent has somewhere comfortable and private to pump at work.

It might simply mean saying:

“You’re doing a great job. How can I help?”

Small acts of support can make a difficult day feel much easier.

Breastfeeding in Public

Babies don’t always follow schedules.

A hungry baby may need to eat at the park, in a restaurant, while traveling, at a shopping center, or somewhere else away from home.

Breastfeeding parents should not have to feel ashamed for feeding their babies.

At the same time, every parent has their own level of comfort. Some people prefer privacy, while others are perfectly comfortable breastfeeding wherever they happen to be.

There is no requirement that breastfeeding look a particular way.

The important thing is that parents feel supported rather than judged.

Breastfeeding and Returning to Work

Returning to work can create another set of challenges for breastfeeding parents.

Depending on the parent’s circumstances, they may choose to:

• Breastfeed before and after work
• Pump during the workday
• Provide expressed breast milk
• Combine breast milk and formula
• Transition away from breastfeeding

Workplace support can make a significant difference.

Access to reasonable pumping breaks, an appropriate place to express milk, refrigeration or storage options, and supportive workplace policies can help parents continue breastfeeding if that is what they want to do.

What About Parents Who Cannot Breastfeed?

This is an important part of the conversation.

Not everyone can breastfeed.

Some parents experience medical or physical challenges. Others may take medications or have circumstances that affect feeding. Some babies have difficulties nursing. Some parents choose not to breastfeed.

And sometimes breastfeeding simply doesn’t work out the way someone hoped.

A parent’s worth is not measured by how they feed their baby.

Formula is an important source of infant nutrition for families who use it, and combination feeding can also be part of a family’s feeding journey.

World Breastfeeding Week should be about support rather than shame.

Breastfeeding and Mental Well-Being

Feeding a baby can be emotionally complicated.

A parent may feel proud, exhausted, frustrated, relieved, overwhelmed, joyful, or several of these emotions at once.

When expectations surrounding breastfeeding become unrealistic, parents can sometimes feel guilt when their experience doesn’t match what they imagined.

It is okay to ask for help.

Remember, it is okay to change your feeding plan.

It is okay to grieve an experience that didn’t go the way you hoped.

And it is okay to celebrate the feeding journey you did have.

How Can Partners Support Breastfeeding?

Partners may not be able to breastfeed, but they can be an enormous source of support.

A partner can:

• Bring the baby to the breastfeeding parent
• Refill their water bottle
• Prepare meals and snacks
• Help with household responsibilities
• Handle diaper changes
• Wash and sterilize pumping equipment when appropriate
• Provide emotional encouragement
• Protect quiet feeding time
• Help communicate boundaries with visitors
• Encourage the parent to seek professional help when needed

Breastfeeding may involve one person’s body, but caring for a baby is a shared responsibility.

How Can Families Support a Breastfeeding Parent?

Family members can help by avoiding unnecessary pressure and criticism.

Instead of asking:

“Are you sure the baby is getting enough?”

try asking:

“How are you feeling?”

Instead of criticizing a parent’s feeding choices, offer practical help.

Bring food.

Hold the baby while the parent showers.

Do the dishes.

Listen.

Sometimes the best support isn’t advice at all.

It’s simply being there.

World Breastfeeding Week Is About More Than Breastfeeding

Although breastfeeding is at the center of the week, the larger conversation is about creating an environment where families can make informed feeding decisions and receive appropriate support.

Parents shouldn’t have to choose between accurate information and compassion.

They deserve both.

They also deserve access to healthcare professionals who can help them understand their options without shame or judgment.

How Can You Celebrate World Breastfeeding Week?

You don’t have to organize a major event to participate.

You could:

• Learn more about breastfeeding and infant feeding
• Share evidence-based information with other parents
• Support a breastfeeding friend or family member
• Learn about local breastfeeding resources
• Encourage supportive workplace policies
• Talk openly about the realities of breastfeeding
• Help normalize breastfeeding in public
• Donate to organizations supporting maternal and infant health
• Simply check in with a new parent and ask how they’re doing

Sometimes awareness begins with a conversation.

A Note for New Parents

If you’re preparing to breastfeed, remember that you don’t have to know everything before your baby arrives.

You can learn as you go.

If breastfeeding is important to you, consider learning where you can access professional support before you need it. Having someone to call when you’re exhausted and wondering whether something is normal can be incredibly reassuring.

And if breastfeeding doesn’t work out exactly as planned, that does not erase the love, effort, and care you have given your baby.

Celebrating Every Feeding Journey

World Breastfeeding Week gives us a chance to celebrate breastfeeding and the many people who make breastfeeding possible.

But perhaps it also gives us an opportunity to be gentler with one another.

Every baby needs to be fed.

Every new parent deserves support.

And every family has a story that may look different from the one next door.

Whether a baby is nursing at the breast, receiving expressed milk, combination feeding, or being fed with formula, the moments surrounding feeding can still be moments of love, comfort, and connection.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week to all the parents feeding their babies—however that journey looks for your family.