Breastfeeding mothers now have a quiet and convenient place to go to feed their babies at the Crow Wing County Fair.
A “Rock and Rest” tent, located in the Crow Wing County Community Services booth in Commercial Building No. 3, is new at the fair. T
he booth not only provides educational materials on the benefits of breastfeeding, but a place for mothers to nurse their babies. The tent has a rocking chair and ottoman, nursing pillows, a fan, a changing table, and some toys and coloring supplies for older children who need to wait for their mothers to feed a younger brother or sister.
Leah Jacobson of Ironton, a graduate student in lactation consulting is interning at Crow Wing County Public Health, mostly with its WIC program. She is at public health on Fridays to help mothers with any breastfeeding concerns they may have. She is working on becoming a board-certified lactation consultant. She hopes the tent concept is a spring board for other community breastfeeding initiatives, including the formation of a breastfeeding coalition.
“We’re really hoping the tent can spur discussion and hopefully movement toward a breastfeeding coalition — of the hospitals, grassroots organizations, public health — to make sure we have uniformity and support for breastfeeding women,” Jacobson explained. “With really no budget or coalition to support us, community services gave us half of their booth, a space to put up a tent. We’re hoping we can get a lot of women to use it and hopefully the fair board and others will recognize the need for this so we can expand it and have a regular stop.”
County fair week also coincides with World Breastfeeding Week, sponsored by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action.
“It’s a nice place in the shade to put your feet up and feed your baby,” Jacobson explained, of the tent. “Moms who want to feed their baby a bottle certainly are invited, too.”
A similar breastfeeding booth was offered at the county fair back in 1999.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
Comments (7)
Add commentIn love!
I am in love with this!! I am a new, young, working, breastfeeding mother and I could use all the support I can get! Finding a private place to feed your child in public can be trivial. What I would like to make note of though, is that there has been many occasions when I have fed my daughter (covered up!) in public. I am perfectly comfortable with it but during my feedings was made to feel uncomfortable by dirty looks from other people (even woman!). Breastfeeding is a natural, normal thing and unless I am expected to isolate myself in order to meet my childs needs I think the real solution to this problem isn't to hide the breastfeeding mother, but to create more of a public acceptance.
Leah cares for our community
Kudos to you Leah, for providing families with a place to nurture each other and regroup during the fair. A well fed baby is a happy baby. And when Baby is happy, EVERYONE is happy. Thanks for supporting families!
Breastfeeding support
Audri_504@hotmail.com, you may be interested in joining the new Brainerd Area La Leche League that has formed, if you haven't heard about it already. The first meeting is 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Here's the information: It is an organization that is dedicated to supporting and educating pregnant women, nursing moms, and anyone interested in breastfeeding. We offer monthly series meetings where nursing mothers can meet and talk with other nursing mothers and discuss breastfeeding experiences with an accredited La Leche League Leader. LLL also offers 24/7 phone support for breastfeeding questions or concerns. LLL meets at 10:30 a.m. the second Tuesday of every month in Brainerd. The next meeting will be Aug. 9. Those interested in attending are encouraged to call leader Vanessa Bye at (218) 568-5214 for directions.
GOOD NEWS
Nice to see good news in the dispatch.
SO NICE!!!!
This is such a great addition to the fair! It is so nice to have a nice, quiet place to go and feed your baby. I just weaned my 13 month from breastfeeding but I know last summer I would have happily used this tent! Thank you for thinking of breastfeeding mothers; it doesn't happen often enough.
Breastfeeding
I do appreciate the thought for mothers, promoting breastfeeding, and having a specific area. However, the idea of a tent propogates the idea that breastfeeding mothers need to hide or that breastfeeding is somehow shameful. I saw the tent, and while it is a nice gesture, it was offensive to me--like telling people it is okay to breastfeed, as long as you make sure no one can see you. I'm sure that was not the intent, but that was my first feeling.
Breastfeeding
double post removed because of slow computer....