Sudbury Breastfeeding Challenge returns Saturday

Sudbury Breastfeeding Challenge returns Saturday After a five-year break, the Sudbury Breastfeeding Challenge is returning at Fielding Park on Saturday from 10:30 to noon.

The Sudbury Breastfeeding Challenge is returning after five years. The Infant Feeding Network, a not-for-profit group run by local community breastfeeding advocates, is hosting the event at Fielding Park on Saturday from 10:30 to noon.

"It's a celebration of the sacrifice and the accomplishment that moms make in order to breastfeed or provide breast milk to their baby," said Carolyn Marshall, a registered nurse and member of the Infant Feeding Network.

"Any mom is welcome. We want you to bring your kids. There will be light refreshments and snacks."

Karissa Turner, a mom of two, is also a registered nurse and a member of the Infant Feeding Network. Turner said she is happy to be a part of the event from both a professional and personal standpoint, having breastfed both her children for more than a year.

"They were very rocky journeys, both of them very different experiences," she said.

"I always joke that my first child is the reason I became a breastfeeding specialist and wanted to be able to help families with breastfeeding ... I had so many challenges in the beginning, and I know how difficult that can be first-hand and how much breastfeeding support can really just change the trajectory of your experience."

The challenge, which will feature a latch on, where everyone breastfeeds/bottle feeds at the same time, will mark the start of World Breastfeeding Week.

"We are a very basic community level support," Marshall said.

"Including events like this in in our community can really normalize breastfeeding -- and that's what we're looking to do. When we look at statistics for Canada, there was a report done for 2022 (that found) 91 per cent of parents start breastfeeding, but only 35 per cent actually exclusively breastfeed, at six months."

According to the report, the Top 2 reasons mothers stop breastfeeding before the one-month mark is not producing enough and difficulty.

"I know a lot of clients, the first thing they say is they didn't know it's going to be this hard," she said.

"I think we just need to kind of accept breastfeeding can be hard, but you don't have to do it alone."

Marshall said Sudbury has gained a lot of momentum in the last five years in terms of support. There are now two OHIP-funded breastfeeding clinics – one at the health unit and the other at the Sudbury midwife clinic.

Both Marshall and Turner agree that support is the key to success in any journey.