The turnout was far better than expected.

On Friday morning, 48 moms and their young ones gathered at the Early Years Centre in Willoughby for Fraser Health鈥檚 annual breastfeeding challenge.

While last year鈥檚 event saw only nine participants, this year the room was packed, with many women having to find seats on the floor.

But no one was complaining.

The social event was full of smiling moms and their babies, who all participated in a group 鈥渓atch-on鈥� to help raise awareness of the importance of breastfeeding.

鈥淚 think in communities it鈥檚 important to hold events like this because breastfeeding is something that is natural, but there are some people (who need support) around it in the beginning,鈥� said Corinna Orobko, public health nurse supervisor with Fraser Health.

鈥淚t can be kind of hard sometimes and there might be some challenges. And so we want people to know that other people are breastfeeding, that there is support out there for breastfeeding, and that we can promote it and support it even when people have challenges around it.鈥�

The event is held each year to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week (Oct. 1-7). The 91原创 challenge is one of seven in the region being hosted by Fraser Health today and tomorrow.

鈥淲ith our involvement as Fraser Health, we want to support all infant feeding choices,鈥� Orobko said. 鈥淎nd 鈥� promoting the idea that human milk has everything your baby needs, and also the importance of human milk donation.鈥�

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miranda@langleytimes.com
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